07/19/2018

Quantifying the losses from a global trade war

By Antoine Berthou, Caroline Jardet, Daniele Siena and Urszula Szczerbowicz

No one wins a trade war. Based on a multi-region dynamic general equilibrium model (GIMF), we show that a global and generalised 10 percentage point increase in import tariffs could reduce global GDP by 1% after two years. This effect could be amplified by a fall in productivity, a rise in the financing cost of capital and a decline in investment demand. Taking all these factors into account could result in lowering global real GDP by up to 3% after two years.

Chart 1: Impact of a generalised 10 percentage point increase in tariffs on global real GDP
Chart 1: Impact of a generalised 10 percentage point increase in tariffs on global real GDP Source: author’s calculations.
Updated on 07/20/2018 09:42.
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07/17/2018

Obstacles to trade: tariffs are not everything

By Julia Schmidt (with Walter Steingress)

Current trade disputes focus on import tariffs. However non-tariff barriers still constitute a large share of barriers to trade. Cross-country harmonisation of product standards reduces these barriers. The trade-enhancing effects of such harmonisation efforts are equivalent to a reduction in import tariffs of 1.8 percentage points, compared to an average applied tariff rate of 2.0% for the European Union.

Chart 1: Trade Restrictiveness Index
Chart 1: Trade Restrictiveness Index Source: Overall Trade Restrictiveness Index by Kee et al. (2009). The data used were computed for the year 2009.
Updated on 07/18/2018 16:33.
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07/04/2018

The four seasons of the financial cycle and the countercyclical capital buffer

By Cyril Couaillier and Julien Idier

Financial cycles can be broken down into four phases in which the intensity of financial risks changes. The crisis that follows the downturn is all the more pronounced as risks have accumulated during the upturn. Macroprudential policy aims to limit the impact of financial crises on the real economy: the decision to activate the countercyclical capital buffer in France meets this imperative.

The four seasons of the financial cycle
Chart 1: The four seasons of the financial cycle
Updated on 07/05/2018 17:22.
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06/28/2018

Is the French labour market under pressure?

By Françoise Drumetz and Rémy Lecat

Despite persistent high unemployment, recruitment difficulties have already started to arise in France. The current unemployment rate is approaching its structural level, but wages have been relatively sluggish. These pressures partly reflect temporary effects that are common during periods of intense job creation. In the medium term, more effective vocational training would help to lower the level of unemployment at which these pressures begin to emerge.

Chart 1: Downward unemployment rigidity in France? Minimum, maximum and average unemployment rates for the 1985-2017 period
Chart 1: Downward unemployment rigidity in France? Minimum, maximum and average unemployment rates for the 1985-2017 period Source: Eurostat.
Updated on 06/29/2018 14:34.
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06/21/2018

The Impact of bank competition on credit risk in africa

By B. Cabrillac, L. Jacolin, A. Noah

The intensification of competition in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries has had an ambivalent impact on credit risk. The resulting improvement in management and bank intermediation may, beyond a certain threshold, be offset by greater risk-taking. Strengthening prudential frameworks would make it possible to harness the opportunities offered by bank competition.

Chart 1: Does bank competition reduce or increase credit risk in SSA?
Chart 1: Does bank competition reduce or increase credit risk in SSA? Source: Brei et al., 2018. Relationship between the degree of bank competition (the Lerner index, between 0 and 1, measures banks’ market power) and credit risk (NPL, non-performing loans / gross loans)
Updated on 06/22/2018 09:48.
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