“Inflation ideology: camp permanent or camp temporary?“. Policy focus should be on tackling uncertainties by being able to tackle as many scenarios as possible.
“Benefits of macroprudential policy in low interest rate environments“. Short-term interest rates, particularly the natural rate, have been in steady decline in the euro area and the US. This column argues that in economies with low natural rates, such as the euro area today, macroprudential policy can have benefits for the effectiveness of conventional monetary policy, in addition to safeguarding financial stability.
“Central bank digital currencies“. Can central banks succeed in the marketplace for digital monies?
“The real effects of FinTech lending on small and medium-sized enterprises“. The rapid growth of FinTech platforms creates challenges and opportunities for financial markets. This column uses a new dataset from a Portuguese FinTech platform to study the determinants of lending demand and the consequences of FinTech loans for small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Market power and artificial intelligence work on online labour markets“. In this working paper, the authors investigate three alternative but complementary indicators of market power on one of the largest online labour markets (OLMs) in Europe.
“An AI fair lending policy agenda for the federal financial regulators“. Algorithms, including artificial intelligence and machine learning models (AI/ML), increasingly dictate many core aspects of everyday life. Whether applying for a job or a loan, renting an apartment, or seeking insurance coverage, AI-powered statistical models decide who will have access to the foundational drivers of opportunity and equality.
“EU firms and the COVID crisis: So far so good, but uncertainty, lack of skills, and pockets of vulnerability remain“. The European economic policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic has ensured business continuity and shielded investment, but digital and green transitions are now ever more urgent. This column uses data on 12,000 European firms from the European Investment Bank Investment Survey to show that the pandemic spurred many firms to start accelerating transformation efforts.
“Why EU-UK data flows have a dim future“. After Brexit, the EU and the UK reached an uneasy truce to maintain the free flow of personal data between them. The European Commission decided at the last minute that the UK still provided an adequate standard of personal data protection. Without this decision, EU businesses would have had to introduce special measures to protect personal data which is sent to the UK – costing UK and EU businesses of billions of Euros.
“The socioeconomic gap in childcare enrolment: The role of behavioural barriers“. In many countries, children from families with lower socioeconomic status are less likely than those from higher socioeconomic status families to attend early childcare programmes. To promote educational equality, policymakers should alleviate behavioural barriers to childcare and other formally non-selective social programmes.