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...

Large and differentiated fiscal adjustments underway in EU countries require credible strategies, including a growth-friendly approach to consolidation design. This brief captures in a summary fashion the main underlying principles for fiscal adjustments of high quality. While setting some...

This brief discusses trends , drivers and policies related to European competitiveness in a global perspective. Over the past two decades, European industry was holding its own against both the old world competition from the US and Japan and newer rivals from China or India. But already before...

Since the release of the 12th Five-Year Plan in 2011, a reform of China's household registration system – the so-called hukou reform - is mentioned as a possible tool to promote labour mobility, boost incomes, rebalance the growth model towards consumption and create a stable urban society....

In the five years since the Leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) first met, the G20 has become the premier forum for global economic policy coordination. The question is whether the G20 can maintain and even strengthen its role in the future and how it can achieve this. This Economic Brief...