Migration to Germany is shaping the Western Balkans for better and worse, highlighting the need for reforms to harness benefits and mitigate drawbacks. Migration has long shaped the demographic and economic realities of the Western Balkans, with Germany emerging as the primary destination for emigration. Since the 1990s, persistent emigration, combined with negative natural population […]
The pound initially edged up after the BoE’s decision, but pared those gains to trade slightly lower on the day at $1.3622. The U.S. dollar was choppy on Thursday as traders parsed the Federal Reserve’s measured stance on further interest rate cuts, while sterling held steady as the Bank of England kept rates steady and […]
Global export competitiveness is rapidly evolving. This column presents a novel granular decomposition of export market share changes into demand and supply effects. Applied to Germany, it reveals steep supply‑side losses in medium-/high‑tech and energy‑intensive goods driving recent market share declines. Meanwhile, China continues to gain competitiveness in medium-/high‑tech exports, even as adverse demand pulls […]
The most active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.6% at $3.99-1/2 a bushel at 0931 GMT but on course for a weekly loss of about 1.5% Chicago corn futures rose on Friday but remained on track for a weekly loss, after larger estimates of U.S. and Brazilian crops showed […]
Expectations a closely-watched crop tour in the United States this week will boost expectations of large U.S. corn harvest also weakened corn Chicago soybean and corn futures fell on Monday, pressured by favourable U.S. weather and concerns over low export demand as trade tensions between the U.S. and top buyer China continued. Expectations a closely-watched […]
Trade uncertainty between the EU and the US – driven by the announcement of new tariffs and a volatile global economy – has raised concerns for EU businesses, workers, and policymakers. This column presents evidence on the sectoral and regional exposure of EU labour markets to exports to the US. In manufacturing – the sector […]
Trade with China displaced large parts of the American workforce in the 2000s, but Germany did not experience a similar shock at the time. This column argues that the ‘China shock’ has hit the German economy since 2020, particularly in its core automobile and machinery sectors. To avoid America’s painful de-industrialisation of the 2000s, Chinese […]
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 0.2% at $5.15-1/2 a bushel. Chicago wheat futures eased on Tuesday to approach their lowest since 2020 as seasonal supply pressure from Northern Hemisphere harvests weighed on the market. Corn edged down to set fresh contract lows, with steady U.S. crop conditions and […]
Faced with the prospect of the US government imposing higher trade tariffs, European consumers are rethinking what they buy. This column explores how European consumers are reacting to the 2025 US tariff hikes and the reasons behind their responses. European consumers are very willing to switch away from US products, and the more they earn, […]
There is growing recognition that the specific characteristics of services sectors and services trade have important environmental implications. For example, services trade can foster technological advancements and solutions that reduce the environmental footprint of economic activities. This column presents empirical evidence that reducing policy restrictions on imported services inputs lowers the emissions intensity of downstream […]
