“Check against delivery” Bundespräsident Steinmeier, Ministerpräsident Söder, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Like so many of you, I have been coming here for many years. From the times when it was an exclusively transatlantic audience to today, when we see political, business and thought leaders from right across the world. This is a testament not only to the great success of the Munich Security Conference. But it also reflects on how the rest of the world impacts our security and our transatlantic relationship. Our task here...

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To G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, The outlook for the global economy is characterised by shifting financial conditions and geopolitical uncertainty. Against this backdrop, it is important that we remain attentive to global financial stability, which is indispensable for economic growth. Under the G20’s leadership, and working through our members, the FSB has developed extensive reforms in recent years to enhance resilience by addressing key financial system vulnerabilities. When fully implemented, the reforms will contribute to a financial...

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Blog post by Thomas Cantens, Herve Tourpe | New generative AI tools can redefine the relationship between governments and citizens, but strong leadership and safeguards are fundamental. New technologies have the potential to improve the relationship between governments and citizens. Tax portals, customs IT systems and online services have simplified interactions with public authorities, reduced bureaucratic hurdles, and increased transparency. Now, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as the next transformative force. Known for its ability to understand and produce human...

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by Dennis Essers, Laura Lebastard, Michele Mancini, Ludovic Panon and Jacopo Timini | Using firm-level data for five EU Member States we study how disruptions to the supply of foreign critical inputs (FCIs) might affect value added. Our findings suggest a 50% reduction in imports of FCIs from China and China-aligned countries would lead to transitory value added losses in manufacturing of about 2-3%, with significant variation across firms, sectors, regions and countries. This has implications for the wider economy, growth and price stability. Global disruptions...

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Blog post by Pedro Baptista, Colm Bates, António Dias da Silva, Maarten Dossche and Marco Weissler | Euro area firms hold on to their workforce, despite poor economic conditions. For a significant share of workers this means a lower workload than usual. In turn, many put more money aside as they worry about job security and wages, as the ECB Blog shows. When the economy slows down, so does labour productivity. This link is often attributed to the role of...

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