BRUEGEL

Corporate debt in emerging markets has long been perceived as a relevant risk for the global economy. In reality, this perception might be true for some large emerging economies, especially China, but...

What’s at stake: America is undergoing a retail sector crisis, partly related to the increase of competition from online commerce. We review recent contributions to this debate.The New York...

While the activities using the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency bitcoin swing between legal and illegal, the attention has been increasingly shifting to the technology underlying bitcoin, known as...

What can we learn about the Italian banking sector from the decision to liquidate Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare Sondrio (MI:BPSI)? Silvia Merler sees a tendency for Italy to let politics outweigh...

There is growing debate about a common European military policy and defence spending. Such moves would have major economic implications. We look at the supply side and summarise some key facts about...

Pharmaceuticals are a hugely important industry for the EU and the UK. The sector creates thousands of jobs, billions of euros in exports, and is Europe’s most research-intense industry. But...

What’s at stake: Almost a year after the UK voted to leave the European Union, its economic performance has showed mixed results. The risks of a Brexit-induced recession do not seem to be...

What’s at stake: Productivity growth fell sharply following the global financial crisis and has remained sluggish since, inducing many to talk of a “productivity puzzle”. In the US,...

The European Monetary Union (EMU) was founded with the idea that nominal convergence would bring real convergence, but structural differences between members have proven wide enough to generate...

Last week, the European Central Bank left interest rates and its quantitative easing program unchanged. The decision came as February’s inflation for the euro area reached 2% for the first time...

China bank risk is on the rise. The unwavering focus by both markets and regulators – ranging from individual banks to financial system stability as a whole – reflects a sense of urgency...

Paul Krugman argues that Navarro is right and wrong at the same time. Germany in effect has an undervalued currency relative to what it would have without the euro, against its neighbors. This is the...

Incoming US president Donald Trump has been running on a political ticket to re-negotiate trade deals. He has been promising “fairer” deals that would reduce US trade deficits and preserve...

The quantitative easing (QE) programs that started in the second quarter of 2015 remain controversial, especially in Germany. The sums involved are substantial: since the start of the first program,...

First, let’s start from an update on the expected cost. A paper by the UK Treasury that was leaked this week suggests that a hard Brexit may cost £66 billion a year. The Treasury estimates...

Theresa May's recently announced that she will trigger Article 50 no later than March 2017. Guntram Wolff debriefs May's speech and the implications for the future of EU-UK relations.Theresa May has...