Despite gloomy predictions, the global economy remains remarkably resilient, with steady growth and inflation slowing almost as quickly as it rose. The journey has been eventful, starting with supply-chain disruptions in the aftermath of the pandemic, an energy and food crisis triggered by Russia’s war on Ukraine, a considerable surge in inflation, followed by a globally synchronized monetary policy tightening. Global growth bottomed out at the end of 2022, at 2.3 percent, shortly after median headline inflation peaked at 9.4...

This blog is based on Chapter 3 of the IMF's April 2024 Global Financial Stability Report | Cyberattacks have more than doubled since the pandemic. While companies have historically suffered relatively modest direct losses from cyberattacks, some have experienced a much heavier toll. US credit reporting agency Equifax, for example, paid more than $1 billion in penalties after a major data breach in 2017 that affected about 150 million consumers. As we show in a chapter of the April 2024 Global Financial...

With Up to $6.6 Billion in Proposed CHIPS Direct Funding, TSMC Announces 2 Nanometer Technology at Second Fab and a New Third Fab to Produce 2 Nanometer or More Advanced Chips. Proposed CHIPS Investment in Arizona Would Support AI, High-Performance Computing, 5G/6G Communications, and More Applications. On April 8th, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and TSMC Arizona Corporation (TSMC Arizona), a subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum...

Blog post by Charles Cohen, Caio Ferreira, Fabio Natalucci, Nobuyasu Sugimoto |  The private credit market, in which specialized non-bank financial institutions such as investment funds lend to corporate borrowers, topped $2.1 trillion globally last year in assets and committed capital. About three-quarters of this was in the United States, where its market share is nearing that of syndicated loans and high-yield bonds. This market emerged about three decades ago as a financing source for companies too large or risky for commercial banks...

The sixth ministerial meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (“TTC”) took place in Leuven, Belgium, on 4 and 5 April 2024. It was co-chaired by European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, joined by European Commissioner Thierry Breton, and hosted by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European...

The United States has been ranked as the top destination for foreign direct investment for the 12th consecutive year according to Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council’s 2024 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index.  The annual survey of global senior executives and investors found that the United States maintains its lead ranking for over a decade due to the growing strength of the U.S. economy and rebounding consumer sentiment. Foreign investors were encouraged by higher-than-anticipated GDP growth in 2023, which was attributed...

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Assistant Secretary Alan Davidson gave remarks at a roundtable with leading AI developers, civil society organizations, and academics on the benefits, risks, and policy options regarding open AI models, in relation to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Request for Comment on the topic. Secretary Raimondo moderated the discussion, which addressed the marginal benefits and risks of open AI models, systems of accountability and risk mitigation, the national security and societal impacts...

​IMO has agreed on an illustration of a possible draft outline of an “IMO net-zero framework” for cutting greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from international shipping. This marks a step forward in the legal process towards adopting global regulations, referred to as “mid-term GHG reduction measures”, that will help achieve the targets contained in the 2023 IMO Strategy on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. At the conclusion of the eighty-first session of the Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 81), held...