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27-Jun-2008
Speech delivered by Jørgen Elmeskov, Acting Head of the OECD Economics Department, at the Wirtschaftsrat Economic conference: Growth engine world economy: Seizing chances - controlling risks which took place on 18 June 2008 in Berlin, Germany.
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13-Jun-2008
This paper relates diverging productivity performances across OECD countries over the past fifteen years to differences in the stringency of regulations in the product market.
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22-May-2008
Although Korea has become more integrated in the world economy over the past decade, it still ranks low in terms of import penetration, the stock of inward FDI relative to GDP and foreign workers as a share of the labour force.
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22-May-2008
The Korean government has introduced five policy packages since August 2005 to stabilise house prices, mainly due to concerns about possible spill-overs from the capital region to other parts of the country, even though the increase on a nation-wide basis has been modest compared to other OECD countries.
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19-May-2008
This paper presents new estimates of country-specific international transport costs for 21 OECD countries over the period 1973-2005. The methodology is based on direct measures of air, maritime, and road transport costs rather than on cif/fob ratios or other balance of payments data employed in previous studies. Transport costs are calculated as costs per kilogramme for each mode of transport at a bilateral level and then aggregated. Australia and New Zealand are found to have the highest transport costs among the OECD countries considered, followed by Japan.
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16-Apr-2008
Softening economic growth and the slowdown in the housing market mark a turning point for fiscal policy. Strong revenue growth in earlier years financed a sustained expansion of government spending and some cuts in tax rates, while still allowing the government to run a substantial fiscal surplus. This left the public finances in a healthy state with net government debt declining to a very low level. But this benign picture is changing as growth slows and tax receipts increase more slowly. Public spending growth needs to slow.
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16-Apr-2008
Lending has been strong, with debt ratios reaching very high levels. The Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland (CBFSAI) had clearly identified the major vulnerabilities and taken action to mitigate them. The Irish banks are well-capitalised and profitable, which provides a cushion to weather the more difficult times ahead. This chapter reviews financial market developments, the actions by the CBFSAI and the new policy issues that have come to the fore with the financial market turmoil.
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16-Apr-2008
Ireland currently has a relatively young population but faces similar, if more distant, long-term pressures from population ageing as other countries. The pension system is founded on a basic state pension but relies heavily on private saving to provide adequate replacement incomes in retirement. Large increases in the state pension have reduced poverty, although many pensioners still have low incomes. There is a large retirement savings gap for many households between the close to flat-rate state pension and a reasonable replacement income in retirement.
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16-Apr-2008
Immigration has soared in recent years. The immigrants tend to be young, well educated and work. But they often work in basic jobs. Immigration policy should thus focus on better integration. This chapter reviews Irish immigration policy in the light of international experience. It also highlights the uncertainties about future migration flows and the challenges they pose for infrastructure planning.
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16-Apr-2008
After many years of sustained growth, the housing market has slowed: house prices are falling and there has been a sharp reduction in the number of new homes being built. The exceptional rise in property values in recent years was largely driven by higher income and demographics, but did appear to overshoot the sustainable level. House prices may ease further and could even fall below their long-run value. Residential investment is experiencing a sharp slowdown. This will have some effect on wider economic activity.
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How deep is the impact of the recent oil and credit shocks on the productive potential of OECD economies?
Issue No. 83
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