OECD.org

Around a quarter of students are unable to make even simple decisions on everyday spending, while just one in ten can understand complex issues, such as income tax, according to an OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test of financial literacy among some 48,000 15 year-olds in 15 countries and economies.

Integrating measures to tackle climate change into regular economic policy will have a positive impact on economic growth over the medium and long term, according to a new OECD report prepared in the context of the German Presidency of the G20.

Africa’s economic growth slowed from 3.4% in 2015 to 2.2% in 2016 due to low commodity prices, a weak global recovery and adverse weather affecting agriculture, according to the African Economic Outlook 2017. A rebound is expected in 2017-18. The report argues that entrepreneurs can help accelerate the region’s industrial transformation.

The slowdown in productivity growth, already under way before the crisis, combined with sluggish investment, has continued to undermine rises in economic output and material living standards in many of the world’s economies, according to a new OECD report.

Businesses should do more to adopt cutting-edge technologies, materials and processes if countries are to reap their full productive potential, a new report says. While governments should seize the opportunities for their economies and environmental sustainability, they must also manage the risks and disruption of this next “production revolution”.