Revolutionary digital technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are associated with significant efficiency gains that can increase social welfare and lead to a productivity boom. One way to assess how widely these technologies are...
Brueguel
Germany’s post-pandemic current account surplus
In 2019, Germany ran a current account surplus of $290 billion, the largest in the world. Germany’s current account surplus is persistently large: from 2011 to 2020, it never dropped below 6% of GDP and remained above 7% for six consecutive years (from 2014 to 2019,...
Rethinking fiscal policy
The pandemic and subsequent downturn have seen EU countries deploy unprecedented fiscal support, while the EU as a whole complemented this with an architectural innovation in the form of the Next Generation EU fund. As European economies begin to recover, is it time...
Better sustainability data is still needed to accelerate the low-carbon transition in capital markets
Capital reallocation towards sustainable investments is viewed as essential to Europe’s low-carbon transition. The European Union has already developed global standards with its taxonomy of sustainable activities and disclosure rules applying to financial market...
Will China use climate change as a bargaining chip?
Read the full article published in English in Nikkei Asia and in Spanish in El Economista.
Is tech redefining the workplace for women?
Today, work is often segregated by gender — with great ramifications for women across the world. Will increased use of technology decrease or increase current discrepancies? What can we do today in our schools and workplaces to help women in the future? Bruegel’s own...
Pandemic prevention: avoiding another cycle of ‘panic and neglect’
COVID-19 proved a surprise for most of the world despite a trend of increasingly frequent pathogen outbreaks in the last 40 years. Scientists warn the trend will continue. But pandemic crises typically suffer from a ‘panic-and-neglect’ cycle, in which global measures...
The only quick-fix to Europe’s energy price crisis is saving energy
This piece was originally published in Euractiv. Faced with spiralling energy prices, European governments are trying to shield vulnerable households and small businesses with tax cuts, price caps or rebates. These temporary government interventions are designed to...
Xi’s pledge on financing coal plants overseas misses point
Read the full article published in English in Asia Times and in Spanish in Expansión.
Making antitrust work for, not against, gig workers and the self-employed
In late September, the Chair of United States Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, urged Congress to consider passing legislation to ensure gig workers who organise do not fall foul of antitrust laws. The European Union has already taken some steps in this direction....
The inconsistency in global strategic relations
This piece was originally published in Kathimerini and is forthcoming in Helsingin Sanomat. “There’s a fundamental truth of the twenty-first century within each of our own countries and as a global community,” President Joe Biden told the United Nations on 21...
Will ‘common prosperity’ address China’s inequality?
This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Check the previous editions of ZhōngHuá Mundus Sign up for the...