|
|
News & Events
News
|
11-Jun-2008
How to make the recent growth performance more sustainable? How to achieve a better macro-economic policy mix? How to raise work incentives and economic efficiency? How best to stimulate the supply of affordable housing in major cities? How to improve transport infrastructure rapidly?
|
|
03-Jun-2008
The Finnish economy has been performing well but risks are mounting. Imbalances are building in the labour market and the wage negotiation framework needs to be overhauled. There is scope for improvement in the municipal sector as well as in tertiary education, and the tax mix could be made more efficient.
|
|
24-Apr-2008
Growth has picked up significantly in recent years, largely driven by expansion of manufactured exports. Nevertheless, structural reforms are required to put public households on a sustainable path in order to cope with population ageing and to avoid labour market bottlenecks limiting growth.
|
|
16-Apr-2008
Economic activity is now easing. In the short run, competitiveness must improve. Better infrastructure, and further product and labour market reforms would keep growth strong over the medium term. Long-run challenges remain for the housing market, fiscal policy, pensions, and the integration of migrants.
|
|
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
09-Apr-2008
Germany has been enjoying a strong cyclical rebound in economic growth after a long period of stagnation. First positive effects of past reforms are already visible. However, for high economic growth to be more enduring, economic challenges remain, notably in the fields of labour markets, fiscal policy, education policy, healthcare and network industries.
|
Top of page
|
|
