Before the crisis, China enjoyed a period of buoyant growth, driven mainly by capital accumulation. It was able to maintain a high investment-to-GDP ratio thanks to abundant savings, partly a consequence of distortions in factor prices including the exchange rate, wages and interest rates. Productivity gains also contributed to China's outstanding performance, through technological catch-up but al... Lire la suite
In 2014, there were 36,681 municipalities in France (36,767 including overseas municipalities), 101 départements and 27 regions. French local-government entities accounted for 40% of the European Union total in 2011.Their economic role is substantial: local governments accounted for 21% of French government expenditure and 60% of government investment in 2014. Their powers are varied and may overl... Lire la suite
In early 2015, global economic growth slowed, with major disparities between economic areas. The advanced economies continued expanding, albeit at a slightly slower pace than at the end of 2014, but the outlook remains positive. In contrast, growth slowed more sharply in the emerging economies.In the United Kingdom and the United States, growth picked up again in the second quarter, after a tempor... Lire la suite
Since 2001, the Ecofin Council gave a mandate to the Ageing Working Group (AWG) made up of the Commission and the Member States to update periodically harmonised projections of age-related public expenditure and other expenditures linked to the sustainability of the Member States' public finances (retirement and disability benefits, health care, long-term care, education and unemployment benefits)... Lire la suite
There is a close link between economic growth and the business confidence indicators published by the three organisations that conduct economic surveys in France (INSEE - the French national statistical institute, Banque de France and Markit). All three surveys have "reference thresholds" expressing the balance of optimistic/pessimistic answers. The INSEE and Banque de France set their thresholds... Lire la suite
The use of economic sanctions as a tool for diplomacy is nothing new. The benchmark study by Hufbauer, Schott and Elliott published in 2007 inventories more than 200 sanctions episodes instituted since the beginning of the 20th century. More recent developments, such as the sanctions imposed against Russia or the upcoming lifting of sanctions against Iran, show that sanctions are still a very topi... Lire la suite
Germany's population decline has already begun, despite the short-term stabilisation provided by immigration. In 2013, Germany's total population of 81.3 million had already fallen by 500,000 since 2003. In very recent years, it has been stabilised by a strong wave of immigration, but whether that pattern will persist remains uncertain, as shown by alternating periods of positive and negative net... Lire la suite
VAT is France's highest-yielding tax. According to the national accounts, it generated €144bn in 2013. However, VAT as a share of GDP of total taxation is relatively small by comparison with the 27-member European Union (EU-27), whereas the ratio of total taxation to GDP in France is high (44.7% in 2013).Furthermore, the VAT-to-GDP ratio has decreased since the 1970s in France.The comparatively mo... Lire la suite
Income and wealth inequalities in the U.S. have risen since the late 1970s, with only a temporary interruption by the 2007-2009 recession. At the same time, after being cut in half from the late 1950s to the beginning of the 2000s, the absolute poverty rate has increased significantly, and has now returned to the level of the mid-1960s. Finally, in sharp contrast to the traditional view of the Ame... Lire la suite
British productivity fell sharply during the 2008 crisis and has barely recovered since then. At the end of 2014, it was still two percentage points lower than in early 2008, and 15 points below the level it would have reached if it had followed its pre-crisis trend growth rate. The UK's persistently low productivity is noteworthy, both from a historical perspective and in comparison to the patter... Lire la suite