The recent crisis has again drawn attention to the difficulties young people face in finding work. Unemployment for the 15-24 age group was 22.8% in first quarter of 2011 (versus 8.4% for 25-49 year-olds).This non-prescriptive study seeks to identify the difficulties young people face when entering the labour market by analysing available indicators and school-to-work pathways.The unemployment rat... Lire la suite
The economic crisis of 2008-2009 has increased pressure on the public finances of most developed countries, against a background of ageing populations, adding to doubts as to their sustainability.A country's public finances are considered to be sustainable when it is capable of funding its public debt over the very long term with no change of policy. Sustainability depends on both short and long-t... Lire la suite
French industry's capacity utilization rate has picked up progressively, after falling sharply during the crisis. Even so, in early 2011 it was still well below its long-term average. Yet despite this under-utilization of existing stock of capital, non-financial corporations resumed investing as early as the second quarter of 2010, and even as early as fourth-quarter 2009 for productive investment... Lire la suite
Biofuels are currently the primary substitutes for fossil fuels. As the first generation of biofuels, made from food crops, have come under heavy fire in recent years, attention has turned towards second-generation biofuels, mainly biodiesel and bioethanol, which are made from various kinds of plant matter (e.g. whole plants, lignin or perennial grasses, agricultural and forestry residue). As thes... Lire la suite
Corporate income tax (CIT) is usually seen as a tax levied at the statutory rate of 33.33%. However, assessment rules, reduced rates, tax smoothing procedures, and other variations in the tax base do require a more comprehensive study of other indicators to estimate the true tax burden on businesses. One of the most telling indicators, particularly for international comparisons, is the implicit ta... Lire la suite
The emerging countries' net foreign assets have been expanding faster than those of the developed countries, since 2004, thanks to larger trade surpluses and capital inflows than previously. Today they represent two thirds of world foreign exchange reserves. China and the other emerging Asian economies, with fairly rigid exchange regimes, hold the bulk of these reserves.These reserves have enabled... Lire la suite
Opinions on the inflation outlook diverge in the United States. The economic recovery, rising energy prices, and the current monetary policy of the Federal Reserve (Fed) now lead some observers to predict an "inflationary spiral." For others, the under-utilization of productive capacity, high unemployment, household debt reduction, and a still-troubled real-estate market suggest the opposite scena... Lire la suite
Capital flows to the emerging countries have been trending upwards since 2003, driven by the significantly greater growth potential of these countries relative to the developed countries. Since spring 2009, indeed, capital inflows have recovered the peaks registered in 2007-2008, when they became so massive that several emerging countries took steps to regulate them more effectively. They exceede... Lire la suite
The monthly index of business failures released by INSEE (France's National Statistical Institute) measures the number of enterprises for which a court-ordered reorganization has been initiated. Although it does not cover all terminations, the index-besides supplying information on business demography-acts as a reliable barometer of the financial health of firms. In particular, it helps to identif... Lire la suite
In 2009, France experienced its deepest recession since World War II, with a GDP contraction of 2.6% (versus 0.9% in 1993). This issue of Trésor-Economics describes the labor-market adjustment during the recent crisis, highlighting the characteristics of the persons most affected.The recession entailed large job losses mainly in the non-farm market sector, where they rose from 183,000 in 2008 to 3... Lire la suite