Tresor-Economics

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Trésor-Economics No. 38 - Should structural reforms be coordinated in the euro area?

Within the framework of the Lisbon strategy, the European Union member states have committed to undertaking major structural reforms between 2000 and 2010. The reforms were intended to stimulate supply and demand and therefore deliver large gains in terms of activity in the reforming country.In a monetary union like EMU, structural reforms by one member state affect the economy of other member sta... Lire la suite

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Trésor-Economics No. 37 - Local Government Headcount

Local government employees (1.7 million people including subsidised jobs, compared with 2.5 million central government employees) account for around a third of civil service jobs in France. Their increase since the beginning of the 1980s accounts for more than half of the increase in total civil service staffing levels and more than two-thirds of growth total central government and local governmen... Lire la suite

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Trésor-Economics No. 36 - Global economic outlook, spring 2008

Despite adverse economic conditions in the US, with the real estate market downturn and a deteriorating job situation, combined with a shock to commodities and oil prices and the financial turbulence that emerged during the summer, the global economy remained buoyant in 2007 thanks to continuing fairly vigorous growth in Europe and emerging Asia. Growth in the eurozone was sustained mainly by robu... Lire la suite

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Trésor-Economics No. 35 - Real exchange rate appreciation in the emerging countries

The catching up economies have experienced sharp productivity gains, and their currencies are under pressure to appreciate in real terms against the developed countries' currencies. Until July 2007, in most cases these resulted in significant nominal appreciations, while at the same time we saw rising inflationary pressures. This process, which is essentially structural in origin, has been amplifi... Lire la suite

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Trésor-Economics No. 34 - "Large contracts" signed by French firms in the emerging countries

A transaction is considered to be a "large" contract when the French share of it exceeds €3 million. Large civil contracts signed by French firms in the emerging countries are reported on a quarterly basis by the international network of Economic Missions of the Ministry for Ministry forthe Economy, Industry and Employment. These major contracts have a direct impact on French exports, and in parti... Lire la suite

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Tresor-Economics No. 33 - The carry trade and recent yen movements

The existence of a strong Japanese current account surplus against a background of relative yen weakness in recent years raises questions, and is contributing to the persistence of international balance of payments imbalances.Over and beyond the role played by macroeconomic policy in Japan (with very low key rates especially), a decline in Japanese households' preference for domestic securities (k... Lire la suite

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Trésor-Economics No. 32 - Do rising food prices pose a risk of persistent inflationary pressure?

Prices of agricultural commodities rose sharply in 2006 and 2007. The causes of the trend are both cyclical and structural, which means prices could remain durably high and very volatile. Several exporting regions, especially Australia and Europe, have recently suffered climate events. Cereal and dairy production have fallen as a result, reducing inventories and causing tension in world markets. M... Lire la suite

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Trésor-Economics No. 31 - How does the National Minimum Wage compare with the SMIC?

The British National Minimum Wage (NMW) was introduced in 1999 and rapidly rose to a level close to that of its French equivalent, the Salaire Minimum Interprofessionnel de Croissance, or SMIC. However the NMW has not affected the operation of the labour market in the same way as the SMIC. At first sight, the proportion of workers covered by this minimum wage is distinctly lower in the United King... Lire la suite

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Trésor-Economics No. 30 - The long-term economic consequences of climate change

In 2006 the UK Treasury published a study on the economic consequences of climate change (the "Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change"). The main novelty of the "Stern Review" was to introduce economic analysis right into the heart of the climate debate, vigorously arguing that the damage caused by global warming could be 5 to 20 times greater than the sacrifices demanded of our economies... Lire la suite

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Trésor-Economics No. 29 - Implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive: what is at stake?

The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (the MiFID) came into force on 1 November 2007. Under this directive, States can no longer require investors' orders to be concentrated on the regulated exchanges only. As a result of this rule, applied with variable rigour from one European country to another, the great majority of orders have hitherto been routed through regulated markets, and in pa... Lire la suite