The introduction of value added taxes has been widely perceived as successful, boosting government revenue and stimulating industrialisation. This contrasts with the empirical finding that,
Forecasts play a pivotal role in fiscal policymaking. They are not simply attempts to predict the future but critical instruments that shape budgetary plans and
While the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1973 has traditionally been seen as heralding a major shift towards floating exchange rates, the extent
Services are becoming increasingly important in global trade. This column shows that strong growth in services trade was driven by a decline in non-tariff trade
Banking crises have repeatedly inflicted serious damage on the real economy. This column discusses a new proposal for a public liquidity backstop in Switzerland to
Moody’s downgraded the US Treasury from top notch by one notch. This second in a series of three columns describes how, for a generation, economists
Amid geopolitical shocks, the EU is revisiting its industrial strategy. However, traditional metrics often paint a misleading picture of Europe’s underlying strength. This column uses
The causes and consequences of income and wealth inequality are central concerns in economic research and policy discussions. This column presents findings from the 2022
Geopolitical risk is on the rise worldwide, playing a critical role in shaping macroeconomic and financial developments, including output, inflation, and financial stability (e.g. Attinasi
Standard models of asset pricing assume that risky (safe) financial assets have higher returns because they have higher (lower) exposures to systematic risk factors. They