Changes in the health and longevity of the elderly in the US
Spending on public pensions through Social Security and on elderly healthcare through Medicare accounted for over one-third of federal expenditures in the US by 2024.
Taming original sin redux: The role of benchmark-driven flows
Emerging market capital flows remain highly sensitive to global shocks. This column analyses foreign investors in emerging market local-currency sovereign bonds depending on whether they
Forward guidance and the limits of public information
When nominal interest rates hit the effective lower bound, central banks turned to unconventional measures, with forward guidance emerging as a cornerstone of monetary policy.
Navigating geoeconomic risk in the US stock market
Geoeconomic risk has become a first-order concern for investors. This column shows that domestic US stocks expose investors to substantial geoeconomic risk through firms’ global
The energy transition: Progress and challenges
Solar and wind have become the cheapest sources of new electricity almost everywhere, yet Europe is now switching them off in record numbers. This column
The unequal burden of oil shocks: Labour markets and monetary policy
The war in Iran has sent oil prices sharply higher, reviving the question of who bears the cost of energy shocks and how central banks
Size versus allocation in capital market development: evidence from pension funds and insurance companies
EU capital markets stay small as savings sit in deposits, making insurers and pension funds pivotal if portfolios shift into productive assets. The European Union’s
Global economic outlook hangs in balance between geopolitical headwinds and AI boost, WEF Chief Economists’ Outlook warns
Chief economists already rank the current closure duration of the Strait of Hormuz as significantly more disruptive than last year’s tariff turmoil. The global economic
Bonds bonanza: Region’s issuers front-load deals amid rising uncertainty
Iran is one among many global uncertainties that could cause spreads to widen sharply. Saudi Arabia and the UAE led a wave of regional entities
When agri-food prices rise, who bears the cost?
During a visit to El Salvador, we met María Alexandra Tamanique, a maize farmer in La Libertad. She told us about the difficult decision she
