Private consumption is a key component in the rebalancing of growth that China is seeking, and a challenging one. Not only for the 1.3 bn. Chinese citizens, but it could make an important contribution in addressing global imbalances. Understanding what drove the consumption share down to a mere...

This brief reviews the evolution of the US and the European labour markets since the beginning of the financial crisis. In the US, the unemployment rate and the share of long-term unemployment grew very fast, during the crisis, thereby reaching levels close to those in the EU. Does that mean...

The policy brief analyzes the relative performance of the Czech and Slovak economies between the official confirmation of Slovakia's euro-area entry in mid-2008 and end- 2010. The analysis suggests that both economies continued to evolve in a highly similar manner. Czech real exports, as well as...

This policy brief analyzes whether the exposure to the CEE10 region is a risk for parent banks. Simultaneously, risks for the CEE10 countries implied by the strong presence of foreign-owned banks as well as possible feedback loops are discussed. Ongoing financial market turbulences within the...

There is a widespread perception that imbalances within the euro area are not adjusting, the major difficulty being that the competitive disinflation processes required in deficit countries are painful, while no strong incentives are always available in surplus countries to reduce their excess...

The increasing spread of global value chains (GVCs) worldwide has been one of the most prominent features of the global economy for the last three decades. Production of goods and services is sliced into stages so that intermediate inputs are sourced from most efficient producers often located...

China's economy slowed significantly in the first three quarters of 2012 and questions have been raised on a possible hard landing. While recent early indicators have shown signs of improvement in the most recent months, it is essential to understand what is driving this slowdown and how lasting...

Amidst current fears of recession and economic stagnation, this note presents an optimistic view of the euro area's prospects over the medium-term. We claim that the EA has a more than fair chance to leave the crisis behind in a much stronger overall position than before, not least vis-à-vis...

This note provides a brief overview of the work carried out under the auspices of DG ECFIN's fellowship initiative. While the economic policy agenda in Europe is currently dominated by lagging activity reflecting public and private balance-sheet problems and still impaired transmission of...

Summarising the findings of DG ECFIN's fellowship programme on the future of EMUDG ECFIN has now published a series of Economic Papers written by distinguished scholars in the context of its Fellowship Initiative on "The future of EMU & Economic growth perspectives for Europe". This policy brief...