Digitalization, done right, can equip governments to improve revenue collection and spending efficiency. International Monetary Fund - September 7, 2023 Digitalization is a transformative force as powerful as the advent of the printing press in the 15th century or electricity in the 19th. Yet some governments have been slow to harness the potential of digital technology to improve delivery of public services and strengthen public finance. A two-pronged policy approach is required—connecting unconnected households to the internet and accelerating and strengthening the...

Policy brief by John Springford , Sander Tordoir | Published 12 June 2023. CER study raises concerns about wasteful European subsidies, as shipping costs increasingly discourage imports from faraway countries European policy-makers are worried about losing out to subsidised production in the US and China in the booming global market for green technologies. A new CER policy brief, ‘Europe can withstand American and Chinese subsidies for green tech’, shows that the EU can be competitive in green goods and should use...

Blog post by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the European Central Bank | Moving towards carbon neutrality as quickly and boldly as possible is by far the best way to slow down climate change. It may take more effort in the short run, but in the long run it will cost less overall, says ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos. We need to reach carbon neutrality to avoid existential risks to nature, people and our economies. And we need to...

Blog post by Fabio Panetta, Member of the ECB's Executive Board | With rising geopolitical tensions and urgent global challenges such as the climate and digital transitions, Europe needs to bolster its resilience to shocks and invest strategically. In order to achieve this, we need to work together, as a more integrated Europe is better positioned to realize shared goals in a fragmented global economy. Central to this strategy is the creation of an integrated European capital market — a...

Recent years have seen growing interest in differences between labour and capital income taxation. New stylised effective tax rates show that governments almost always tax the capital income individuals receive more favourably than wage income. But that is only part of the story, because governments also usually tax labour and capital income at the firm level. After accounting for firm-level taxes, capital is still taxed more favourably than labour in many OECD countries, but in others, the reverse is true. Interest...

Blog post by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the EU has imposed 11 rounds of ever-tighter sanctions against Russia. Some people claim these sanctions have not worked. This is simply not true. Within a year, they have already limited Moscow’s options considerably causing financial strain, cutting the country from key markets and significantly degrading Russia’s industrial and...

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has published the results of a survey on the investment levels in CEE companies — “Business Model Update: Are CEE Companies Investing Enough?”. The analysis was published as part of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) Report, which is to be presented at the Economic Forum in Karpacz (5 to 7 September 2023). The findings show that investment activity is recovering after the crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Companies are...

Growing trade restrictions may reverse economic integration and undermine the cooperation needed to protect against new shocks and address global challenges. In a shock-prone world, economies must be more resilient—individually and collectively. Cooperation is critical, but greater protectionism could lead to fragmentation, and even split nations into rival blocs just as fresh shocks expose the global economy's fragility. While estimates of the cost of fragmentation vary, greater international trade restrictions could reduce global economic output by as much as 7 percent...