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Technology Featured Finance Global

AI may boost output but fuel divergence between rich and poor countries, IMF chief says

“If we were to extract that kind of boost of growth that would be very significant for the world,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington. Booming investment in artificial intelligence, concentrated mostly in the U.S., could contribute between 0.1% and 0.8% to global growth, but […]

Featured Economy Global News

Geopolitical shifts, uncertainty, and investment: Evidence from the EIB Investment Survey 2025

Geopolitical risks impact firms on both sides of the Atlantic. While the short-term outlook is better than expected, there remains huge uncertainty related to the nature and extent of more permanent geopolitical shifts and breaks. This column reports findings from the EIB Investment Survey 2025, which show that EU and US firms continue to invest, […]

Economy Banking Featured Finance World

The missing link: Why economic policy needs organisational economics

Europe faces slowing growth, ageing populations, and structural shifts. This column discusses how organisational economics can illuminate the impact of structural forces on Europe and assist in the design of policies to promote productivity and growth. Demographic change is among the most consequential challenges for European governments, and its impact hinges on organisational choices regarding […]

Development Energy Featured News World

The new curse of critical minerals

A race is raging among global powers to secure access to critical minerals to power the simultaneous energy and digital transitions the world is experiencing. The extraordinary growth in demand for critical minerals is putting upward pressure on prices and stimulating new critical mineral discoveries all around the world. However, in developing countries, this new […]

trade Economy Featured News World

Global merchandise trade tops expectations in H1

WTO economists raised the 2025 merchandise trade growth forecast to 2.4%. Global merchandise trade outpaced expectations in the first half of 2025, driven by increased spending on AI-related products, a surge in North American imports ahead of tariff hikes, and strong trade among the rest of the world. In response, WTO economists raised the 2025 […]

Economy Employment Featured News World

The macroeconomic impact of ageing, EU immigration policy and pension expenditures

The EU faces ageing-driven fiscal strain, slower growth and rising pension costs, making employment-focused migration increasingly vital. The European Union population is ageing increasingly rapidly, with dependency ratios and shares of the elderly in the total population rising across the continent. While aggregate projected increases in age-related public spending in the EU are manageable, there are substantial differences […]

Finance Banking Featured News World

The economic impact of European capital market integration

Economic growth in Europe continues to lag behind that of the US, largely due to smaller productivity gains. This column uses a general equilibrium model to show that a more integrated capital market in Europe could strengthen investment by reducing the cost of capital (price effect) and encouraging the entry of investors more inclined to […]

Development Featured News trade World

Reinforced regional integration fosters inclusive growth and human development

Despite years of regional integration efforts, African countries trade more with Europe and Asia than with each other. This column estimates the gap between the current and potential trade efficiency of 45 African exporting countries and their 43 trading partners over the period 1996 to 2020. The findings highlight the existence of untapped trade potential […]

Climate Environment Featured Innovation Productivity

Adjusting productivity for carbon emissions: A new perspective on the growth slowdown

Productivity growth has been lacklustre over the past 20 years in most advanced economies. But standard productivity measures ignore the progress that some economies have made in terms of lowering carbon dioxide emissions. This column proposes a method to embed those efficiency gains into existing productivity measures. For traditional (small) estimates of the cost of […]