Press releases

En cas de hausse importante du chômage, l’État social en France rattrape les baisses de revenus globales des demandeurs d'emploi dans une fourchette de 38 à 73 %. En Belgique, c’est entre 52 et 73 %, au Luxembourg entre 43 et 52 %.  C’est ce qui ressort d’une étude d’EconPol sur les systèmes de protection sociale des pays membres de l’Union Européenne. « Les systèmes de prévoyance scandinaves et d’Europe de l’Ouest offrent la meilleure protection contre les conséquences financières du chômage.

Economic experts in major European countries are particularly critical of the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This is the finding of a global survey carried out by the ifo Institute in collaboration with the Swiss Economic Policy Institute. “Misgivings are especially grave in Germany and France. Economists in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Belgium are also skeptical. But their colleagues outside Europe are far more relaxed about the effects of the IRA.

Economic sanctions induce considerable economic damage in the target countries. Sanctions by the United Nations cause growth in sanctioned countries to decline by 2 percentage points annually. Extrapolated over ten years, this is equivalent to a 25 percent drop in per capita economic output. Unilateral sanctions by the US lead to an annual decline in growth of almost 1 percentage point in the countries affected. In the long term, this corresponds to a 13 percent slump in the economy’s output per capita.

Schoolchildren achieve better science grades when their teacher has specialist training in the subject they teach. This has been shown in an evaluation of international student data by Pietro Sancassani of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education. Germany was not included in the study because all science teachers there already have specialist training. Around one-fifth of the effect qualified teachers have on student performance can be ascribed to the fact that teachers feel more confident delivering the course material.

Despite Russia’s attack on Ukraine, many NATO countries are increasing their defense spending at a very slow pace. In 2023, most of them remain short of the goal of spending 2 percent of their economic output on defense. Only 11 out of 30 countries exceed this mark. “In Europe, the 2 percent target is being reached almost exclusively along NATO’s eastern border. Member countries further in the west are increasing their defense spending only cautiously,” says ifo’s military expert Marcel Schlepper.