Europe Economics Focus How long will Portugal’s outperformance last? Portugal’s economy has benefited from a series of favourable developments in recent years, causing it to outperform most other euro-zone countries. We think this will continue over the next couple of... 15th January 2026 · 14 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus Bulgaria’s slow euro-zone convergence to continue Bulgaria has become the latest but also the poorest member of the single currency area following its euro adoption at the start of the year. GDP per capita should continue to converge with Western... 14th January 2026 · 17 mins read
Europe Economics Focus Pensions & public finances: not just a French problem Far from being only a French problem, pensions will be a growing fiscal headache in all the major euro-zone countries in the coming decade as populations age. In France and Italy, this will add to the... 14th January 2026 · 24 mins read
Global Economics Focus The Shape of the Fractured World in 2026 Donald Trump’s tariff policies and his aggressive foreign policy approach are straining relationships with traditional US allies. One consequence that is apparent in our Global Fracturing Dashboard is... 12th January 2026 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Focus ECB interest rates cuts doing little to boost growth Aside from the monetary loosening undertaken by the ECB at the beginning of the global financial crisis, its interest rate cuts from mid-2024 to mid-2025 were the deepest over a 12-month period in its... 1st December 2025 · 15 mins read
Europe Economics Focus Has France’s RN turned moderate? As it has dropped plans for “Frexit”, scaled back its tax and spending promises and made overtures to business, the RN is worrying investors less than it did in the past. However, it is no more likely... 20th November 2025 · 16 mins read
Europe Economics Focus What to make of euro-zone inflation differentials Next year, inflation is likely to remain higher in Spain and Germany than in Italy and France. But unlike in the 2000s, inflation differentials are not currently a sign that unsustainable imbalances... 19th November 2025 · 9 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus A primer on the Ukraine ‘reparations loan’ The EU appears close to agreeing on a loan for Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, that would be repaid by eventual reparations. This Focus explores the macroeconomic implications. The short... 23rd October 2025 · 10 mins read
Climate Economics Focus The macroeconomic implications of CBAM in the EU Ahead of the phase-in of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from the start of 2026, and the associated phase-out of free carbon permits for EU producers, this Focus assesses the... 15th October 2025 · 19 mins read
Europe Economics Focus The fallout from France’s ongoing political deadlock The latest political developments in Paris underline that France is heading for some kind of fiscal crisis which in turn means the risk premium on its debt is likely to rise in the coming year or two... 6th October 2025 · 13 mins read
Europe Economics Focus Euro-zone inflation risks now to the downside The ECB’s battle against high inflation has been won and, in our view, it is more likely that inflation undershoots than overshoots the 2% target over the next few years. As a result, we think the ECB... 22nd September 2025 · 11 mins read
Commodities Focus How vulnerable are EU natural gas supplies? Although Europe’s natural gas supply is now more diverse than before the energy crisis, the fact that most of its gas is imported means it is still exposed to geopolitical and infrastructure-related... 18th September 2025 · 16 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus Poland: limited boost from defence spending surge Poland has ramped up defence spending faster than any other NATO country in the past few years, but we estimate that the boost to GDP growth has been less than 0.2%-pts per year. A high reliance on... 10th September 2025 · 19 mins read
Europe Economics Focus EZ housing recovery to give only a small boost to GDP House prices in the euro-zone are increasing quite quickly, but we doubt that this will last. So rising house prices will provide only limited support to household consumption and investment in the... 5th September 2025 · 9 mins read
Global Economics Focus Fracturing in the Age of Trump The global geopolitical map could have been redrawn by the end of Donald Trump’s second term. Some form of rapprochement between the US and China is conceivable in the next few years, as is a... 2nd September 2025 · 38 mins read
Europe Economics Focus “Euro safe assets” are a pipe dream Policymakers’ hopes of creating a new euro “safe asset” are likely to be unfulfilled for many years to come. The supply of safe bonds issued by national governments and EU institutions will rise in... 12th August 2025 · 14 mins read
