Blog

South-South Preferential Trade Agreements in Services – Economic Potential Lying Idle

| 4 October 2016
Trade, Blog | Tags: Services Trade, WTO
Imagine the Central African Republic and Cameroon investing in the compatibility and quality of their railway tracks, and eventually merging their railways altogether. The producers in the Central African Republic would get easy access to the sea, while Cameroon’s railway and ports would benefit from ... continue reading

Quantitative Easing Is Back – But Will It Help the Real Economy?

| 15 August 2016
Monetary, Blog | Tags: QE
Last week the Bank of England surprised commentators with the scale of its post-Brexit monetary stimulus package. It included a new £70bn round of quantitative easing (QE), the first since 2012, as well as the more widely predicted 0.25% cut to interest rates. The idea ... continue reading

Governments Should Use Tax Systems to Drive Inclusive Growth Agenda

and | 22 July 2016
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Inequality, Tax Expenditures, Taxes
Tax policy design should play a key role in not only supporting growth but also in addressing distributional concerns. Taxes affect inequality through different channels. The most direct way in which taxes redistribute income is by narrowing the distribution of (post-tax) disposable income. Taxes can ... continue reading

Are Tax Expenditures a Good Way to Redistribute?

| 1 July 2016
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Inequality, Tax Expenditures, Taxes
Since 2007, governments across several European countries have implemented cuts to their social programs in an attempt to tackle the fiscal deficits generated by the last economic and financial crisis. At the same time, they have increasingly made use of various tax related measures to ... continue reading

Central Banking and Inequality – Taking Off the Blinders

, and | 16 June 2016
Monetary, Blog | Tags: Central Banks, Ethics, Inequality
Since the financial crisis, the relative importance of monetary policy in the toolbox of macroeconomic policies has increased. In parallel, we have seen a renewed social and political concern with rising inequalities in income and wealth. However, the two trends are rarely connected.[1] Despite studies ... continue reading