The global economic situation remained weak and uneven in summer 2014. The recovery gathered pace in the Anglo-Saxon countries but has yet to materialize in the euro area and in Japan. Growth in the emerging countries, meanwhile, continued to slow down. While many factors still point to a continuing global recovery, some downside risks have intensified, notably concerning the scale of the emerging... Lire la suite
Before the "Great Recession" in 2008, unit labour costs (ULCs) showed contrasting trends in the euro area. While they recorded particularly strong growth in Spain and, to a lesser extent, Italy, they fell in Germany. France's unit labour cost growth was slightly higher than the euro area average as a result of marginally stronger wage growth.The recession narrowed the differentials in ULC growth s... Lire la suite
Minimum wage standards in the European Union (EU) – when they exist at all – are highly heterogeneous, whether their levels are expressed in nominal terms or as a percentage of the median wage. Social partners and governments play different roles in the wage-setting process depending on countries, with varying rules and procedures for adjusting the minimum wage (frequency of adjustments and adju... Lire la suite
Pooling a part of unemployment insurance within the euro area would provide a new instrument for solidarity that would in turn be a concrete incarnation of the social dimension of EMU while enhancing stabilisation of the euro area as a whole. The crisis made it clear that the euro area has no central fiscal instrument that is able to cushion the impact of macroeconomic shocks. Setting up a common... Lire la suite
Between 1975 and 2012, France's per capita GDP rose more slowly than the average for OECD countries, particularly as compared to the United States and, to a lesser extent Germany and Northern Europe. France ranked above the OECD average in 1975, but as a result of this slower growth, now ranks lower than most of the major developed economies except Italy and Spain. The underlying factors in France... Lire la suite
Inflation in the euro area was 0.7% year-on-year in April 2014, after reaching 0.5% in March - its lowest level since November 2009. Inflation began declining in the summer of 2012, due largely to the contraction and subsequent stabilisation of commodity prices, especially oil, as well as the appreciation of the euro. Stripping out the impact of the volatile components of the CPI, core inflation (... Lire la suite
France is unusual in that it has one of the lowest rates of union membership in the OECD (8% in 2010) with one of the highest rates of collective bargaining coverage (93% in 2008). This paradox points up the particularity of the French model of industrial relations, where the collective bargaining extension procedure means that unions and employer associations negotiate for all sector workers rath... Lire la suite
One of the most remarkable features of the global economy since the early-1990s has been the rapid integration, and consequently growing importance, of the emerging economies, China especially, in the global trading system. This issue of Trésor Economics considers the main medium-term issues and challenges arising from future developments in these economies' supply side on the one hand, and in the... Lire la suite
Technology firms' creation requires specific financing tools to take into account the high level of risk associated with their activity. "Tech" start-ups could not significantly rely on bank funding and generally turn to sources such as the entrepreneur's family and friends ("love money"), business angels, or investors who have pooled their capital in funds run by management firms. Seed-funds repr... Lire la suite
In 2013 global economic growth gradually picked up, but divergences between major economic zones persisted. The growth differential between advanced countries was still stark, with the Anglo-Saxon countries and Japan on one side, and the euro area countries on the other. Growth remained fairly firm in the United States and recovered substantially in the United Kingdom and Japan, on the strength of... Lire la suite