Tresor-Economics - Trésor Info | Direction générale du Trésor

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 68 - French and German export specialization: similarity or divergence?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 07 décembre 2009

Various studies of the trade performance of France and Germany find similarity in the two countries' sectoral export specializations. An examination of highly disaggregated data using the CEPII revealed comparative advantage indicator yields a more nuanced view. When examining aggregated data, France and Germany are found to have similar areas of revealed comparative advantage but those areas are... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 67 - Measuring economic performance and social progress: the findings of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 02 décembre 2009

GDP cannot be regarded as the sole indicator of economic performance and social progress. This is the underlying finding of the Stiglitz Commission, which has made an unprecedented effort to study the entire body of theoretical and empirical literature devoted to measuring economic performance, quality of life, and environmental sustainability.As an indicator of economic performance, GDP is in nee... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 66 - Global economic outlook, Autumn 2009

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 19 octobre 2009

The turmoil at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 was followed by a lull in Q2 2009. With the stimulus plans starting to take effect, the pace of decline in activity slowed and certain countries even posted positive growth. This, coupled with the improvement seen on the financial markets, has tended to confirm the scenario of a gradual stabilisation of activity.The upturn is likely to remai... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 65 - Japan's changing labour market and how it is affecting its growth model

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 11 octobre 2009

Japan's labour market model stands apart from that of other countries by the importance it places on employment, which it seeks to guarantee for life, while maintaining a high degree of wage flexibility. Among others, this has given rise to a system of company trade unions not seen elsewhere, and has led to a situation in which the unemployment rate is not particularly relevant as a variable. Gene... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 64 - How vulnerable are the emerging and developing countries to a drop in migrants' remittances?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 25 septembre 2009

Emerging countries' payments balances have come under severe pressure since the onset of the crisis in Autumn 2008, as widespread deleveraging has led to massive capital outflows from these countries. In earlier crises affecting the emerging countries migrants' remittances proved resilient, acting as a stable source of financing. This appears to have been less the case in the present crisis, howev... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 63 - The French employment premium and its beneficiaries, 2001-2008

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 31 juillet 2009

The French employment premium, called "Prime Pour l'Emploi" (PPE), was introduced in 2001 to give incentives to people to go to back to work and to provide financial support to low-paid workers.The PPE is a tax credit granted to households that earn below a specific ceiling for taxable income and is based on labor income of each of its members. The PPE-scheme has been substantially revised since i... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 62 - How does today's US crisis compare with the 1990s Japanese crisis?

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 27 juillet 2009

Both the American and the Japanese crises originated in the bursting of speculative bubbles, forcing private agents–households in the case of the USA, and non-banks in the Japanese case–to reduce their debt. In the case of Japan, debt reduction in the midst of a financial crisis triggered a deflationary spiral. A Japanese-style deflationary spiral seems unlikely in the United States, despite simil... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 61 - The "Revenu de Solidarité Active" or earned income supplement: its design and expected outcomes

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 23 juillet 2009

The introduction of the "revenu de solidarité active" (RSA) or earned income supplement, 20 years after the launch of the "revenu minimum d'insertion" (RMI) or minimum integration income, seeks to correct several shortcomings in the French welfare system. These include a generally inconsistent and confusing maze of transfers and taxes or contributions, weak incentives to return to work, and the in... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 60 - China, "laboratory to the world?"

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 09 juillet 2009

Technological innovation is increasingly contributing to China's industrial and economic growth. The dominant pattern, in the early stages of the country's opening up starting in 1978, consisted in acquiring technologies from subsidiaries of foreign companies doing business in China.China's own research has flourished since 2000. This is due to an industry-oriented public policy, backed up by the... Lire la suite

Trésor-Eco

Trésor-Economics No. 59 - Distributable surplus and share-out of value added in France

Rédigé par : DG Trésor 19 juin 2009

The distributable surplus is the share of GDP growth available to improve the remuneration of factors of production. It stems from two sources, namely productivity gains and changes in the amount appropriated by the rest of the world through variations in the terms of trade. Consequently it is the share of growth not allocated to the remuneration of additional factors of production as measured by... Lire la suite