This article is published in association with United Nations. Top finance experts are meeting at UN Geneva this week to push for a radical shake up in the way economic growth is gauged, in response to concerns that GDP measurements provide little insight about progress on key sustainability targets that are vital to our survival. Backed […]‘Beyond GDP’ economists push for clearer metrics on wellbeing, sustainability
January 12, 2026 by Leave a Comment
This article is published in association with United Nations. Top finance experts are meeting at UN Geneva this week to push for a radical shake up in the way economic growth is gauged, in response to concerns that GDP measurements provide little insight about progress on key sustainability targets that are vital to our survival. Backed […]Global Debt Remains Above 235% of World GDP
September 18, 2025 by Leave a Comment
This article is published in association with IMF. Vitor Gaspar, Carlos Eduardo Goncalves, Marcos Poplawski-Ribeiro Global debt has stabilized, though it remains at an elevated level, as a continued reduction in private-sector lending offset greater borrowing by governments. Total debt was little changed last year, just above 235 percent of global gross domestic product, according to […]Looking beyond GDP to reach the Sustainable Development Goals
March 31, 2025 by Leave a Comment
This article is published in association with United Nations. Countries should consider looking beyond Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, as the key measure of economic growth to achieve the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN policymakers have suggested. The initiative is in line with UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s longstanding assertion that “moving beyond GDP is […]US and German GDP show consumers are central to recovery, and other economy stories you need to read this week
May 29, 2023 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum./ Author: Gabi Thesing, Senior Writer, Forum Agenda 1. Revised US and German growth data shows consumers hold key to recovery The US economy grew more than previously reported in the first quarter thanks to stronger consumer spending, while revised estimates […]US and German GDP show consumers are central to recovery, and other economy stories you need to read this week
May 26, 2023 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Gabi Thesing, Senior Writer, Forum Agenda 1. Revised US and German growth data shows consumers hold key to recovery The US economy grew more than previously reported in the first quarter thanks to stronger consumer spending, while revised estimates […]GDP: How do you measure a country’s true worth?
September 2, 2022 by 1 Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Anna Bruce-Lockhart, Editorial Lead, World Economic Forum What makes a ‘good’ country? If you’re thinking ‘happy people, trusted leaders, thriving trade’ then you may be surprised to learn that for many economists, for many years, a single monetary […]Stakeholder Capitalism: A brief history of GDP – and what could come next
December 14, 2021 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Peter Vanham, Head of Communications, Chairman’s Office, World Economic Forum As the World Economic Forum launches the video-podcast Stakeholder Capitalism, host and author Peter Vanham looks at GDP, the focus of episode 1.Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the […]In 2020 Asia will have the world’s largest GDP. Here’s what that means
December 23, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Praneeth Yendamuri, Partner, Bain & Company & Zara Ingilizian, Head of Shaping the Future of Consumption; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum Business must adapt to a rapidly growing middle class changing consumer behaviour and profiles. […]GDP growth slows in most G20 economies in third quarter of 2019
December 13, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with OECD. Growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) in the G20 area as a whole was stable at 0.7% in the third quarter of 2019, according to provisional estimates, but it slowed in the majority of G20 economies. GDP contracted in South Africa (by 0.1%, following growth […]Health spending set to outpace GDP growth to 2030
November 11, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with OECD. Health expenditure will outpace GDP growth over the next 15 years in almost every OECD country, according to new OECD forecasts. Health spending per capita will grow at an average annual rate of 2.7% across the OECD and will reach 10.2% of GDP by 2030, up […]Health spending set to outpace GDP growth to 2030
November 8, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with OECD. Health expenditure will outpace GDP growth over the next 15 years in almost every OECD country, according to new OECD forecasts. Health spending per capita will grow at an average annual rate of 2.7% across the OECD and will reach 10.2% of GDP by 2030, up […]Countries must invest at least 1% more of GDP on primary healthcare to eliminate glaring coverage gaps
September 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with OECD. Countries must increase spending on primary healthcare by at least 1% of their gross domestic product (GDP) if the world is to close glaring coverage gaps and meet health targets agreed in 2015, says a new report from the World Health Organization and partners on the […]Italy’s revised budget remains roughly unchanged waiting for Europe’s fury
November 14, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Italian government concluded its revised budget a few hours ago and as expected the Italian budget plan remained the same with small amendments, such as plans to sell off some government real estate, but still is not respecting the EU fiscal rules. The latter is most likely not going to be left unanswered by the […]Forget GDP – for the 21st century we need a modern growth measure
November 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the strategic cooperation of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Pushpam Kumar, Chief, Ecosystem Services Economics Unit It is critically important we monitor societal progress and design responsive policies to 21s- century challenges, such as climate change, the marginalization of more than a billion people, resource depletion and […]Why Sweden’s cashless society is no longer a utopia
November 12, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the strategic cooperation of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Cecilia Skingsley, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Sweden (Sveriges Riksbank) The Swedish retail payment market is rapidly moving away from using cash. The outstanding value of cash in circulation has dropped to 1% of Swedish GDP. This development […]Greece bailout ends but with no substantial effect on citizens’ life
August 22, 2018 by 1 Comment
It was yesterday when the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stated from the Greek island of Ithaca that the austerity measures are over cheering for the Greek bailout programme exit. Mario Centeno, the chairman of the ESM’s board of governors, had said last Monday that Greece is once more a nation which doesn’t need any additional […]Chart of the day: This is what violence does to a nation’s GDP
June 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the strategic cooperation of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: John McKenna, Formative Content War and violence doesn’t just cost lives. It has an economic impact too. According to the latest edition of the Global Peace Index, the economic impact of violence on the global economy in 2017 […]‘Safe Eurobonds’: a new trick to betray the south euro area countries
February 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment
All along the years after the 2008-2010 financial crisis, which in the European Union took the form banking/government debt breakdowns starting with Greece, there were cries for the creation of a solid Eurozone. In every respect, these calls amounted to demands that super prosperous Germany accepts some degree of risk-sharing with the rest of the […]Brexit: UK business fear of a no-deal scenario preparing for the worst
November 8, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The Confederation of British Industry annual conference which took place last Monday in London was a chance for Prime Minister Theresa May to ask for more patience from the business world. Something though that seems to have been lost as negotiations show no significant progress and time presses both sides. A survey by the Chartered […]ECB intervenes to clean May’s and Schäuble’s mess
June 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday 8 June, on the day the Britons were punishing Theresa May for her mistakes and arrogance, the European Central Bank under Mario Draghi was preparing for a less favorable politico-economic environment and a much longer disinflationary period. Indirectly, Mario Draghi blamed the dying out inflation on the avowed neoliberals, of the kind of […]Trump beats Clinton but Americans will learn the hard way that the US can’t change with an election
November 9, 2016 by 1 Comment
With a large part of voters disgusted from this US Presidential race, which reached unseen before heights of bitterness, hatred, toxic recrimination and another part of Americans ready to contest the result, had Donald Trump lost the race. In the end, he achieved a landslide win and will become the next President of the USA. […]Gloomy new statistics signify no end to Eurozone’s economic misery
August 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The economic misery of the Eurozone doesn’t seem to have an end. According to a preliminary estimate by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical service, GDP growth in the 19 member state monetary zone during the second quarter of this year was as miser as ever. On top of that, inflation continues to oscillate around zero, while […]For how long and at what cost can the ECB continue printing trillions to keep euro area going?
June 9, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last Tuesday Eurostat, the EU statistical service issued a Press release revealing that the GDP of Eurozone (EU19) and EU28 rose in the first quarter of this year by 1.7% and 1.8% respectively, compared with the same three-month period of 2015. On the yearly developments platform, there is more good news. The same source revealed […]Conflicting statistics and bad banks haunt the Eurozone
May 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last week, Eurostat, the EU statistical service, released its flash estimate of the GDP of the first quarter of 2016, finding it, in both the Eurozone and the EU28, to be 0.5% bigger in comparison to the previous period. In the fourth quarter of 2015, GDP had also grown by 0.3% and 0.4% respectively. Does […]Tsipras doesn’t seem to have learned his “almost Grexit” lesson and Greece faces again financial and political dead end
May 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The teleconference of the EuroWorking Group which took place yesterday is the forerunner of the extraordinary meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Eurozone on May 9 where Greece’s programme review is about to be discussed. The outcome was, as expected, disappointing regarding the agreement between the two sides on the package of basic and […]To Brexit or not to Brexit: British exceptionalism doesn’t allow any Obama telling Brits what to do
April 27, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Barack Obama visited the UK last week clearly in an attempt to boost the “Remain” campaign urging Britain to stay within the EU. This move has not yet been exactly measured as beneficial or not for David Cameron’s campaign but has certainly caused several reactions to the British voters about two months before the referendum. The […]Draghi drafts a plan to donate more money to bankers, the era of ‘money for nothin’ is flourishing
February 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The European Central Bank announced last week that under its extraordinary Asset Purchase Program (APP), it has injected €712.3 billion into the euro area financial system until January this year. Out of that, €544.2bn are Eurozone government and public entities bonds, bought under the Public Sector Purchase Program (PSPP). This last plan was decided in […]The Commission sees ‘moderate recovery’ but prospects deteriorate
November 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission released last week its “Autumn 2015 Economic Forecast”, advertising ‘moderate recovery’ for the European Union and the euro area. Understandably, the Commission wouldn’t dig deeper in the economy, to highlight the negative aspects of the present status and the subdued prospects for next year. For a number of important reasons the executive […]Why impoverishment and social exclusion grow in the EU; the affluent north also suffers
October 22, 2015 by 2 Comments
The European Union which mobilizes its warships to keep the flows of poor and destitute refugees and immigrants out of its supposedly prosperous interior, at the same is impotent to offer to its own citizens not a prosperous life but not even a secure economic and social environment. According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical service, […]How close is Eurozone to a new recession which may trigger formidable developments?
September 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
According to the latest statistics published in August by Eurostat, the EU statistical service, the euro area economy grew by a meager 0.3% during the second quarter of this year. Despite the fact that the mere three decimal points of more gross product typically illustrate a positive development for the Eurozone economy, there are other […]More billions needed to help Eurozone recover; ECB sidesteps German objections about QE
May 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The Eurozone economy has been taking two steps forward and one step backward over the past few months. The minimal increase of the GDP growth rate to 0.4% during the first quarter of this year and the equally small increase of people in employment was accompanied by a fall of industrial production and a decrease […]Eurozone at risk of home-made deflation and recession
May 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Tomorrow Tuesday, 5th April, the European Commission will present its ‘Spring European Economic Forecast’ including assessments and predictions about GDP, inflation, employment and government finance for 2014, 2015 and 2016. Good providence made sure that last Thursday Eurostat released its flash estimate of April inflation standing at the edge of zero percent, up by an […]Can the national and age groups pockets of unemployment cause irreparable damages to Eurozone?
April 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment
It’s a bit awkward to consider a drop of the unemployment rate by one decimal point of a percentage unit as economic growth, and call it a reversal to the positive region, as some Brussels dignitaries and bureaucrats do. Incidentally, the euro area unemployment rate fell to 11.3% in February, down from 11.4% in January […]
