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Finance Banking Featured Global

Geopolitical tensions and international financial fragmentation: The 28th Geneva Report on the World Economy

Rising geopolitical tensions now threaten the rules-based world order that has governed the functioning of the international monetary system since WWII with risks of geoeconomic fragmentation. The latest Geneva Report on the World Economy examines how these risks, which include a reversal in decades of financial integration, reduced international allocative efficiency, and an erosion of […]

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 […]

Economy Banking Featured Finance World

Dollar rallies as US shutdown drags on, weighing on confidence

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.3% to as much as 98.91 The U.S. dollar rose to its strongest in more than two months in early Asian trading on Wednesday as risks around the U.S. government shutdown intensified, sparking fresh investor worries and boosting demand for […]

Economy Business Featured News World

Re-imagining South Africa’s state structure for inclusive growth

When economies lose momentum and stagnation becomes entrenched, a shift in thinking and action is imperative. So urged Kofi Annan at a Davos panel decades ago—a call that now rings true for South Africa, where economic growth has languished and policy has too often wavered.  The likes of Singapore, Vietnam and Poland have shown that sweeping, […]

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 […]

Development Energy Environment Featured

Winners and losers from the energy crisis: Policy lessons from the Iberian electricity market

Europe’s recent energy crisis generated large windfall rents for electricity producers. Yet, most EU governments responded with costly downstream measures that left wholesale prices – and producer profits – largely untouched. This column shows that Spain and Portugal charted a different course by intervening directly in the wholesale market, decoupling electricity prices from gas. This […]

Energy Climate Environment Featured World

No green growth without innovation

The ‘green growth’ debate is taking place in an oversimplified setting, largely disregarding the innovation factor. Technologies to mitigate climate change are being treated as given, or as emerging spontaneously, ignoring the fact that the portfolio of technologies available tomorrow depends on what is done today. This can easily lead to misguided preferences, either for […]

Healthcare Economy Featured News World

Fentanyl: The transnational vector of violence

Since 2013, synthetic opioid overdoses have surged in the US, claiming over 70,000 lives each year. This crisis has had international spillovers, reigniting drug-related violence in Mexico, where a new wave of cartel warfare erupted after 2013. This column shows that the geography of this second wave is closely tied to fentanyl trafficking routes. Exploiting […]

Education Employment Featured World

Revisiting the consequences of job displacement

Decades of research have confirmed that job displacement causes significant and persistent earnings losses. This column presents new evidence from workers displaced during firm closures in West Germany between 2000 and 2005 which suggests that these losses are in fact much more heterogeneous than previously documented, and that the large average losses documented in previous […]

Business Banking Featured Finance

Dollar rises versus euro and yen before US economic data

It also sees the European Central Bank as having concluded its easing cycle. The dollar edged up against the euro and the yen, but remained within striking distance of Friday’s lows, after weak U.S. jobs data boosted bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts and triggered a sharp selloff in the greenback. Investors are awaiting services […]