Uncategorized

OMAN – Oman to start cutting utility subsidies in January (Al Arabiya)

Oman will start reforming its expensive system of subsidies in January by shifting the focus of its electricity and water spending to its poorest...

GCC – Dubai index leads gains in major stock markets in GCC (Al Arabiya)

Major stock markets in the Gulf rose early on Sunday amid firmer oil prices as investors focused on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, with...

ASIA/USA – Asia Is Waiting for Biden (Alon Levkowitz, BESA Center)

While President Donald Trump’s Asia policy was not a central issue in the 2020 US presidential election, it had a huge impact on the...

EUROPE – The Dangerous Allure of Green Central Banking (Daniel Gros, Project-Syndicate)

Europe's central bankers have been insulated from political influence to pursue the very narrow mandate of price stability. Greening monetary policy might look attractive...

CHINA/USA – China’s Green Gambit (Minxin Pei, Project-Syndicate)

China's ambitious climate pledges have drawn praise the world over. But China will demand a high price for its contributions and can be expected...

BREXIT/EUROPE – Brexit and the Brussels Effect (Paul De Grauwe, Project-Syndicate)

After long, ill-tempered negotiations in which the UK government has tried to secure privileges for itself that it would not extend to the European...

GENDER GAPS/EUROPE – Heterogeneity in gender wage growth gaps across fields of study in Europe (Rocío Sánchez-Mangas, Virginia Sánchez Marcos, VOXEU)

While gender differences in the labour market outcomes of developed countries have declined markedly in recent decades, substantial gender gaps remain. This column examines wages...

GLOBALISATION – Where globalisation was hiding, and how far it might go (James Anderson, Yoto Yotov, VOXEU)

The gravity equation of international trade raises several empirical puzzles relating to the decreasing impact of distance, the declining trade-related costs of bilateral trade,...

MACROECONOMIC POLICYMAKING/GOOGLE TRENDS/MACHINE LEARNING/OECD – Tracking GDP using Google Trends and machine learning: A new OECD model (Nicolas Woloszko, VOXEU)

A pre-requisite for good macroeconomic policymaking is timely information on the current state of the economy, particularly when economic activity is changing rapidly. Given...

Latest articles