A Guaranteed Win for the Climate: Sustainable Loan Guarantees and Sustainable Loan Guarantee Facilities
Andrew McConnell,
Boyan Yanovski and
Kai Lessmann | 8 February 2022
Monetary,
Blog | Tags:
Central Banks,
Climate Change,
Targeted Refinancing Lines
In order to limit global warming to the levels set in the Paris agreement, an immense amount of additional investment has to be directed into sustainable technologies – a difference of between $610 billion (IEA 2020) and $2 trillion (IRENA 2020) per year as compared
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Double Whammy? The Impact of Trade and Automation on High-Skilled Jobs
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås and
Franziska Klügl | 10 January 2022
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Artificial Intelligence,
Employment,
Services
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities for language, speech and image recognition pass human levels, AI-enabled software can perform white collar tasks previously done exclusively by high-skilled humans. Furthermore, white collar jobs in rich countries could face a double whammy. Not only may AI-enabled automation transform
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Trade and Consumer Prices: The Role of Competitive Transport, Communication, and Distribution Services
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås | 21 December 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Competition,
Inflation,
Services Trade,
Transport
The recent spike in consumer price inflation has amply demonstrated that transport, logistics and distribution play a major role in bringing goods from producers to consumers in a timely and cost-effective manner. Conversely, when choke points in the logistics supply chain arise, prices skyrocket (Figure
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The WTO is Back in Business?
Jane Drake-Brockman | 10 December 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Services Trade,
Trade Governance,
WTO
The building on Lake Geneva which houses the WTO stands as the symbol of the multilateral trading system and the bastion of global non-discrimination in trade governance. Meetings held under WTO auspices, whether physical or virtual, attract global participation by all trading partners. No other
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Postponing the WTO Ministerial Conference – Making the Unexpected Breathing Space a Turning Point
Oliver Braunschweig and
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås | 6 December 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Agricultural Trade,
Health,
Services Trade,
Trade Governance,
WTO
The WTO 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), which was due to take place in Geneva from 30 November – 3 December, was postponed indefinitely last minute due to new COVID-19 travel restrictions. Despite hectic activity on a rather modest agenda during the run-up to the event,
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Is the OECD/G20 International Corporate Tax Reform Fair?
Peter Dietsch | 26 November 2021
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Corporate Tax,
Developing Countries,
Minimum Tax Rate,
Tax Competition
On October 8th, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announced that 136 countries have adopted its two-pillar proposal to reform the taxation of multinational enterprises (MNEs).
Pillar One applies to MNEs with sales in excess of $20bn and profits over 10%. It shifts the
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The Moratorium on Tariffs on E-commerce Should Stay
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås | 25 November 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Digitalization,
Tariffs,
WTO
The rise of the digital economy will be hitting the agenda at next week’s Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in many ways. The continuation of the provisional e-commerce moratorium is one of them – and one that is critical. The e-commerce
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Carbon Prices and Carbon Leakage
Oliver Braunschweig and
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås | 15 November 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Carbon Pricing,
Carbon Tax
Over the past weeks, the conversation over a global carbon price has considerably moved up policy debates worldwide. Just half a year ago, hardly anyone would have seen such a global floor as a viable option. Now, it still comes with a big question mark,
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Bridging the Disconnects – From Diagnosis to Action in Addressing Climate-Related Financial Risks
Alexander Barkawi | 29 October 2021
Monetary,
Blog | Tags:
Central Banks,
Climate Risks,
Financial Regulation,
Macroprudential Policy
When the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) published its Report on Climate-Related Financial Risk last week, it triggered a wide range of reactions. Some praised it as a critical step in moving climate risks up the agenda amongst FSOC members such as the US Treasury,
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Tax Expenditures in the Balkans: Time to Open the Black Box
Flurim Aliu | 28 October 2021
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Tax Expenditures,
Tax Reform
The traditional way of thinking about government expenditure goes as follows: first, governments collect revenue (through taxes, borrowing, or other means such as fines and penalties) and then they spend that revenue through the budget process. However, governments can also choose to support different economic
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