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Finance Banking Featured World

The macroeconomic effects of introducing a central bank digital currency

Central bank digital currencies are gaining traction as a potential innovation in central banking, with numerous countries considering their implementation. However, given the limited real-world experience with such currencies, researchers and policymakers depend on theoretical analysis to assess their potential. This column presents a new macroeconomic model that reveals significant welfare gains from introducing central […]

Featured Lifestyle News World

How firms navigate parental leave: Evidence from Austria

Faced with declining fertility rates and persistent gender gaps, governments have expanded policies to support working families. But sudden increases in allowable parental leave can impose wage costs on firms and negatively affect firm survival. This column examines how Austrian firms responded to a parental leave reform for which they could plan. Whether mothers could […]

Finance Banking Featured News World

US dollar stablecoin mercantilism is an opportunity to promote payment multilateralism and the international role of the euro

The EU and the US have taken starkly different approaches to the regulation of new monies issued using distributed ledger technology. The current US administration prefers dollar-backed stablecoins, with the aim to reinforce dollar dominance worldwide. This column argues that dollar-pegged stablecoins pose a risk for the EU, but the current legal framework can ensure […]

Economy Featured Finance News World

How fund design affects volatility – by shaping both trading and investor composition

Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds have grown rapidly, and they are increasingly expanding into illiquid asset classes such as corporate bonds. This column argues that this trend could lead to increased volatility in corporate bond markets, especially during periods of market stress. Furthermore, risks vary significantly depending on the type of investor (retail or […]

Economy Business Featured Finance

Households’ subjective expectations: Disagreement, common drivers, and reaction to aggregate shocks

Understanding how households interpret macroeconomic policy is vital to the effectiveness of central banks. This column demonstrates that the reactions of individual households frequently contradict standard theoretical playbooks. Using euro area survey data, the authors find that households interpret policy through a lens shaped by recent crises – such as the energy shock following Russia’s […]

Productivity Featured Innovation News

Regulation and growth: Lessons from nearly 50 years of product market reforms

Product market regulation reforms directly affect firm entry, innovation and reallocation, and thus productivity and economic growth. This column leverages the 2025 update of the OECD Energy, Transport and Communications Regulation indicator to show that anticompetitive regulations in upstream sectors curb long-run economic performance in downstream sectors. Across the OECD, deregulation in network industries between […]

Economy Banking Featured Finance

Understanding country income: World Bank Group income classifications for FY26 (July 1, 2025–June, 2026)

Every year, the World Bank Group classifies the world’s economies into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high. These classifications, updated each year on July 1, are based on the previous year’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, expressed in U.S. dollars using the Atlas method.  The Importance of Income Classification A country’s income classification not only […]

Economy Business Featured Finance

Keeping an eye on budgetary forecasts: The new Forecast Tracker of the Secretariat of the European Fiscal Board

Forecasts underpinning budgetary plans have a well-documented impact on fiscal performance especially when policymakers view the world through rosy lenses. Combined with inertia in the implementation phase, optimism contributes to a possible deficit bias and the accumulation of government debt. This column introduces the new Forecast Tracker of the Secretariat of the European Fiscal Board, […]

Technology Featured News World

European Commission to allow stablecoin interchangeability

 The European Commission is set to clarify that the European Union’s crypto rules allow stablecoins issued by a company with an EU licence to be treated as interchangeable with those issued by a company’s non-EU entities, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday. The Commission will provide the clarification in the near future, […]