Reports of Professor Enrico Colombatto
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The economics of a trade crisis
At the end of April, the presidents of the United States and China failed to sign a long-overdue trade agreement. Financial markets were not happy. The world of business believes that the crisis is not temporary but that its consequences are far from dramatic and that new opportunities might actually ...
What’s wrong with the renminbi exchange rate?
Prospects for a U.S.-China trade deal now seem to be hanging by a thread. Even before the most recent disagreement, however, the Trump administration had already begun drawing attention to a new question: whether China had been engaging in protectionism by manipulating its currency. But the administration’s argument reveals confused ...
The Italians learn Chinese: should others in the EU follow their lead?
During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s March visit to Rome, Italy and China signed a set of agreements that brings the former very close to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative community. France, Germany and the United States expressed dismay, and their reaction will probably further marginalize Italy’s role within the Western ...
Equity markets and the global economy
Company earnings are a traditional gauge of economic health and a powerful driver of financial markets. Recently, however, they have been sending contradictory signals. One reason could be the expansionary credit policies of the past decade, which have distorted balance sheets and weakened competition. The most likely outcome of this ...
Italian gold and populist publicity
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has revived a five-year-old proposal to use his country’s gold reserves to bring down the budget deficit. The idea is problematic for several reasons – but that is not the point. Mr. Salvini is likely using this controversial plan to make headlines and burnish ...
Chinese trade data ring a bell
The latest batch of Chinese trade figures shows an unexpected decline in exports and imports. On the surface, the data can be dismissed as a statistical blip caused by importers reacting to Sino-American trade tensions. Drill down a little deeper, however, and one begins to see bigger problems for China’s ...
Oil prices in 2019
Where are oil prices headed? In the long run, the slowly rising global demand for energy will not be enough to offset the declining costs of extraction. In the short term, much depends on how U.S. producers, whose shareholders are dissatisfied with the return on their fracking investments so far. ...
2019 Global Outlook: The economy we left behind
2018 was not a bad year for the world economy, and 2019 should be only a little worse. Consistent with our forecasts, last year brought no disasters: no recession in the West, no major slump in China, no public finance crisis in Europe or global trade wars. Instead, there was ...
