Tresor-Economics - Trésor Info | Direction générale du Trésor

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 119 - The world economy in the summer of 2013: "the sun is rising in the West"

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 11 septembre 2013

The majority of the advanced economies experienced stronger growth in the third quarter of 2013, whereas there were growing signs of a slowdown in the emerging economies. Business confidence improved on both sides of the Atlantic, leading the Federal Reserve to announce in June a tapering of its quantitative-casing programme in the coming months, ratcheting up tension on the financial markets once... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 118 - Do high-end goods represent a comparative advantage for Europe?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 04 septembre 2013

To cope with competition from emerging countries, developed countries have a tendency to specialise in the manufacture of high-end goods. This activity - which includes the very highest segment of so-called "luxury" goods - is strategic for these countries' exports, particularly at a time when domestic demand is weak.It is difficult to accurately and objectively determine which goods should be con... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 117 - Are safe assets to become scarcer?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 03 septembre 2013

Safe assets, i.e. highly liquid assets with a very low default risk, play a key role in the global financial system. They can, for example, offer a safe haven to investors or be used as collateral in transactions between financial entities.With some of these assets losing their risk-free status in the wake of the recent financial crisis, and with demand for safe assets expected to exhibit structur... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 116 - Residential mobility and labor market adjustement

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 02 septembre 2013

In France as in most OECD countries, the homeownership rate has been on an upward trend (58.1% of households in 2011, a 5-point rise over 1985). However, home ownership is associated with higher costs of mobility than renting. This being the case, a contraction of the rental market could have negative effects on job match quality. For example, Oswald (1996), followed by other economists, estimates... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 115 - Consolidation without devaluation: does it work?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 09 juillet 2013

For countries experiencing a balance of payments crisis or running an excessive current account deficit, devaluing the nominal exchange rate can offer a quick return to competitiveness. However, this option is not available to countries belonging to a monetary union or with a fixed exchange rate regime in place (i.e. that have pegged their currency to a reference currency) without jeopardising sai... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 114 - Why the GDP growth «gap» between the United States and the euro area?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 08 juillet 2013

Since the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area intensified in the summer of 2011, the growth paths of the United States and the euro area-which were closely linked beforehand, even during the crisis-have been diverging. In 2012, U.S. growth held firm at 2.2%, whereas the euro area slipped into a new recession, with GDP growth in negative territory at – 0.6%. This divergence is mainly due to the... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 113 - The Shadow Banking System in the United States: Recent Developments and Economic Role

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 29 mai 2013

The shadow banking system (SBS) is made up of a multitude of banking and financial operators linked to each other by financial intermediation chains of varying lengths and degrees of complexity.At one end of the financial intermediation chain, deposits are taken from non-financial investors, in the form of shares in money market mutual funds, for example. At the other end of the chain, loans are d... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 112 - The world economy in the spring of 2013: a brighter outlook?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 04 avril 2013

At the end of 2012, international trade and global economic growth stalled, partly because of temporary factors. The main reason growth remained flat in the United States was the fall in military spending and the impact that hurricane Sandy had on output and inventories, which cancelled out the growth of private expenditure. The dip in the United Kingdom's fourth-quarter growth offset the stronger... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 111 - How should one assess short-term economic uncertainty?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 03 avril 2013

Economic activity in the major European Union countries and the United States has been heavily affected on several occasions since 2008 by the decline in confidence among economic players. Uncertainty in the financial markets, measured by market volatility indexes or government-bond spreads, rose sharply in the summers of 2011 and 2012.In cyclical turnarounds, short-term economic growth is often h... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 110 - How have the Hartz reforms shaped the German labour market?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 20 mars 2013

Since 2005, the German economy has created 2.5 million jobs, mostly part-time positions or work on fixed-term or temporary (agency) contracts. This job growth has reduced the unemployment rate by 5 points to the historic low of 5.3% according to the International Labour Office (ILO) definition of unemployment.Germany's structural labour market reforms in the early 2000s are frequently cited as one... Lire la suite