December 2025
23Dec

Why is inequality so high in Latin America? An interview with Francisco H. G. Ferreira

Economic inequality in Latin America has historically been – and is currently – higher than in much of the rest of the world. For a time, it seemed that large pro-poor programmes, particularly conditional cash transfers (CCTs) – conditional mainly on attending schools and health visits – made some dent on inequality. Such CCTs were pioneered in Mexico, though it has now discontinued that policy, and have been pursued in a major way in Brazil, Colombia, Chile and elsewhere....

December 23, 2025
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16Dec

US. Retirement Accounts Are The Country’s Emergency Funds

The Charade That “Retirement” Accounts Are For Retirement It’s time we stop the charade. Congress should rename 401(k)s and IRAs what they really are: "Emergency Savings Accounts for the Poor and Middle Class." Because that’s how they function for the bottom 90% of American workers. A new Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) report confirms what retirement experts have long understood: Americans are draining their 401(k)s to survive today, sacrificing tomorrow's security. The study reveals where borrowed retirement dollars actually go—not toward...

December 16, 2025
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05Dec

Trump said he’s looking into an Australian-style retirement program for the U.S.

The Trump administration is looking Down Under for inspiration on how to improve the United States’ retirement savings system. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said at the White House that his administration is looking into an Australian-style retirement program. “We’re looking at it very seriously,” Trump said. “It’s a good plan. It’s worked out very well.” Australia’s primary retirement savings program — known as “superannuation” — might have caught the attention of Washington officials. How superannuation works Superannuation, or “super” for short, is Australia’s...

December 5, 2025
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04Dec

Is the world ageing out of interest rates?

From global rate hikes to political pressures, central banks can’t stay out of the news these days. But these headlines overlook a growing challenge for central banks: With the share of the population aged 65 or over set to nearly double by 2054, their policy tools may become less effective. Interest rates have long been a key instrument of monetary policy, used much like car pedals, with cuts made to accelerate economic activity and hikes to slow it down. Historically,...

December 4, 2025
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November 2025
14Nov

Italy, France and Belgium carry most worrying debts in EU, top bank says

Italy, France and Belgium have the most concerning debt-sustainability outlooks in the EU, according to the latest study published by the National Bank of Belgium. The analysis published today found that Italy, France and Belgium are the most fragile economies in Europe when it comes to government debt. They already carry some of the heaviest debt loads in the European Union, and their problems are made worse by rapid population ageing and rising pension costs. Koen De Leus, chief economist at BNP...

November 14, 2025
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10Nov

UK. Radical reforms to State Pension system proposed as government battles rising bills – Steve Webb

Experts at pension consultancy LCP specialising in State Pension policy and in demographic trends have joined forces to recommend major changes to the State Pension system. LCP’s ideas have been fed into the Government’s review of the State Pension Age, and would help to square the circle between the need to increase pension ages and the need to avoid penalising those whose life expectancy is much lower than average. One key measure used by the Government to assess the sustainability...

November 10, 2025
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06Nov

Japan’s welfare crackdown targets foreign residents over unpaid pensions, health insurance

As Japan’s social contract comes under strain, Sanae Takaichi is moving swiftly on a campaign promise to make foreign residents shoulder their fair share of the health and pensions burden. The proposed reforms, set in motion just weeks after Takaichi’s historic appointment as the country’s first female prime minister, aim to address mounting public concern about inequality and the sustainability of its ageing welfare state. At her first ministerial meeting dedicated to issues regarding foreign nationals, Takaichi on Tuesday directed cabinet...

November 6, 2025
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October 2025
08Oct

The U.S.-Born labor force will shrink over the next decade

By Josh Bivens It is often underrecognized how much population aging is currently reducing the growth rate of the U.S. labor force and will continue to pull it down in coming decades. The share of the population that is over the age of 65 (when labor force participation tends to take a steep fall on average) is rising rapidly. This share was 12.4% in 2007, 17.9% in 2024, and will hit 21.2% by 2035 (CBO 2025b). A recent EPI report...

October 8, 2025
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August 2025
11Aug

China’s consumption weighed down by weak expectations

China’s economy registered a respectable GDP growth rate of 5.3 per cent in the first half of 2025. Despite US President Donald Trump’s tariff war, China’s exports grew by 7.3 per cent and contributed more than one-third of the first half of the year’s growth. But domestic demand remains weak and prices are still falling. The conventional wisdom identifies weak consumption as the culprit. The Chinese authorities have prioritised boosting household consumption. A 200 billion RMB (US$28 billion) programme was...

August 11, 2025
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July 2025
15Jul

Argentina’s Milei told to ‘grow up’ by VP in spat over pensions

Argentine President Javier Milei and his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, have engaged in a bitter public war of words over plans to increase pensions. Milei shared posts on X in which his running mate had been called "stupid" and described as "a traitor", and in response Villarruel told the president to "grow up". The president's anger was triggered by a heavy defeat in Congress on Thursday, when the Senate approved motions aimed at boosting pensions and increasing disability allowances - which Milei...

July 15, 2025
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