“If Something Cannot Go on Forever, It Will Stop“
William White | 1 April 2021
Fiscal,
Monetary,
Policy Briefs | Tags:
Covid-19,
Debt,
Democracy,
Environment,
Financial Stability,
Health Systems,
Inequality,
International Cooperation,
Resilience
“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” This famous observation was made by Herb Stein, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. It became famous largely because it was just that, obvious. Yet, what is no less obvious is that public policy is
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Trade in Environmental Services: The Quiet Revolution
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås and
Ronald Steenblik | 29 March 2021
Trade,
Blog | Tags:
Environment,
Services Trade,
Sustainable Development
A significant number of WTO members have taken steps to revive the discussions on the role that traded environmental goods and services could play in a green recovery. This is encouraging. While technology offers significant opportunities for a green recovery, more needs to be done
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Services Trade Governance in the Digital Economy
Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås | 26 March 2021
Trade,
Policy Briefs | Tags:
Digitalization,
Services Trade,
Trade Policy
Services are at the frontier of the transformation to a digital economy. R&D as well as information and communication technology drive the transformation and make services more tradable across borders. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) governing global services trade was designed in
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Disparate Racial Impact: Tax Expenditure Reform Needed
Tom Neubig | 23 March 2021
Fiscal,
Policy Briefs | Tags:
Income Inequality,
Tax Expenditures
This policy brief discusses the issues of potential disparate racial impacts of U.S. tax laws regarding government subsidy and incentive programs run through the tax system: tax expenditures. It analyzes the available data, provides normative insights, and describes eight steps to address disparate racial impacts
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Why Governments Continue to Offer Inefficient Investment Incentives? The Role of Bureaucratic Design
Alexander Slaski and
Sarah Bauerle Danzman | 19 March 2021
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Investment,
Tax Incentives
Governments worldwide use a myriad of tax incentives to promote investment and yet, there is little evidence that these incentives actually work as intended. Moreover, although the striking lack of transparency makes it hard (if not impossible) to accurately estimate their fiscal cost, the available
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How to Design Environmentally Beneficial Tax Incentives
Angela Köppl and
Margit Schratzenstaller | 4 March 2021
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Carbon Tax,
Climate Change,
Tax Incentives
The fight against climate change requires effective economic policy instruments. In addition to environmental taxes, such as a carbon tax, environmentally beneficial tax incentives that favour less polluting consumption and investment activities can be used to promote climate-friendly behaviour. In search of governments around the
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The Case for Climate Objectives in Central Banks’ Targeted Refinancing Operations
Chiara Colesanti Senni | 12 February 2021
Monetary,
Blog | Tags:
Central Banks,
Climate Risk,
Policy Coherence,
Targeted Refinancing Lines
Central banks are making increasing use of targeted refinancing operations to pursue their mandates. However, so far none of them, with a few exceptions in developing economies, has aligned its targeting with the objective of a transition to a low-carbon economy. This must change. Refinancing
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Avoiding a Household Debt Crisis with a Targeted Policy Response
Gudrun Johnsen | 8 January 2021
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Covid-19,
Debt,
Income Tax,
Unemployment
The economic effect of the Covid-19 pandemic varies highly across industrial sectors, education levels and income groups, adding further to inequality across the globe. This calls for highly targeted policy responses for the sake of fiscal prudence and to avoid further economic and financial hardship
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Climate Financial Risks: Assessing Convergence, Exploring Diversity
Julia Bingler,
Chiara Colesanti Senni and
Pierre Monnin | 9 December 2020
Monetary,
Discussion Notes | Tags:
Climate Risk,
Financial Supervision,
Monetary Policy Operations,
Risk Metrics
Climate risks are now fully recognized as financial risks by asset managers, investors, central banks, and financial supervisors. As a result, the integration of climate risk metrics into risk management processes is moving up agendas worldwide. In that context, a rapidly growing number of market
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COVID-19 and Inequality: The Urgent Need for Tax Expenditure Reform
Rita de la Feria and
Agustin Redonda | 24 November 2020
Fiscal,
Blog | Tags:
Covid-19,
Inequality,
Tax Expenditures,
Tax Reform
The economic impact of COVID-19 is both unprecedented and far-reaching. There is now little doubt that the pandemic will disproportionally hit the worse-off, hence exacerbating inequality. It is also clear that the pandemic is particularly affecting groups and sectors that were already under significant stress
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