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Productivity Featured Innovation News World

How the US South caught up: A century of manufacturing productivity convergence

Economic historians have long debated whether lagging regions can catch up in productivity with industrial leaders. This column shows that, under the right conditions, such catch-up can be remarkably rapid. Using newly digitised US Census of Manufactures data covering 48 states and over 120 industries from 1880 to 2007, it finds strong unconditional convergence in […]

trade Environment News World

Ripples presaging a financial tsunami

Loss of confidence in the US dollar’s reserve currency status could trigger a collapse of the US Treasury market and international financial fragmentation. This column argues that hedging is a rational response to recent fluctuations in the US dollar, as investors look to insure against exchange rate risks. However, widespread hedging itself makes Treasuries less […]

Economy Banking Featured Finance

Incomplete contracts and renegotiation in public procurement

Public procurement contracts worldwide often face high risks of cost overruns and project delays, raising questions about the scope for contract modifications. This column examines the impact of eased renegotiation rules on procurement outcomes in the Czech Republic between 2015 and 2020. Easing renegotiation rules did not substantially change procurement outcomes but led to a […]

Business Banking Economy Finance

Gold uptrend intact, but due for correction before topping $4,000 in 2026

Spot gold was trading around $3,680 per ounce on Tuesday after hitting a record $3,689.27 earlier in the session. Gold’s stellar rally to successive record highs shows every sign of continuing for the rest of the year, but a healthy correction is on the cards before breaching the $4,000 per ounce milestone in 2026, traders […]

Finance Banking Featured World

Saudi’s Bank AlJazira prices $500mln, non-call 5.5-year sukuk

The final orderbook is in excess of $1.65bln, excluding JLM interest. Saudi Arabia’s Bank AlJazira, rated A3 (stable) / A-(stable) by Moody’s and Fitch, has priced its dollar-denominated, benchmark perpetual non-call 5.5-year AT1 sukuk on par, with a profit rate of 6.5% and a reset margin of +284.7 bps. The price was marginally tightened from […]

Economy Business Featured Finance World

Gold hovers near record high ahead of US inflation data

ANZ Group raised its year-end gold price forecast on Wednesday to $3,800 per ounce and expects prices to peak near $4,000 by next June. Gold prices hovered near an all-time high on Wednesday, buoyed by expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut this month, while market participants awaited U.S. inflation data for clues on the […]

Finance Banking Featured News World

European stocks fall, dollar steady, traders wait for Jackson Hole

Euro zone business activity expanded in August, PMIs show. European stock markets fell slightly in early trading on Thursday, hovering just below recent highs, as traders avoided making big moves and waited for the Federal Reserve’s three-day annual Jackson Hole symposium. Jackson Hole starts on Thursday and focus will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s […]

Economy Banking Featured Finance World

How to update the EU Merger Guidelines

There is a growing push from certain quarters for the European Commission to weaken merger control in order to spur greater investment and innovation, higher productivity and growth, or the creation of European champions. This column argues that there are empirical and theoretical grounds to strengthen, rather than weaken, merger control, and offers suggestions to […]