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Understanding inflation dynamics requires an understanding of the underlying concept and how it is measured. Inflation is defined as a process of continuously rising prices and falling purchasing power. In other words, a general and broad-based increase in the price of goods and services over an extended period. The main objective of central banks is to keep prices stable, to preserve the integrity and purchasing power of people's money. The most common inflation indicator measures the average change ...

Protests erupted in Kazakhstan on 2 January 2022 and quickly span out of control, resulting in multiple deaths and several days of chaos. Although initially triggered by a fuel price hike, the unrest points to deeper causes of discontent, including poverty, inequality and frustration at the lack of political change. A Russia-led peacekeeping mission has helped to restore order, but could also compromise Kazakh independence.

This paper clarifies the main features of the European Central Bank's revised inflation target in light of international practices, discusses the role of financial stability in the medium-term orientation of monetary policy decisions, and quantifies the possible impacts of the inclusion of the costs related to owner-occupied housing on the inflation indicator which is subject to the inflation target. This paper was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life ...

This paper considers how the ECB can implement its mandate in the current crisis conditions and the legal constraints that exist on its actions. The current position of the euro area economy means the threat to meeting the ECB’s primary objective of price stability stems from the possibility of a long period of below-target inflation. This means the ECB should consider a wide range of stimulative policies that would help it meet both its primary and secondary objectives. The ECB, however, will be ...

This paper examines the case that there has been a structural change in the determination of inflation in the EU (and elsewhere) that has led to a low real-wages, low inflation, slow productivity growth regime. In fact, there appears to have been no structural change. Instead, there has been a marked convergence between the performance of those variables in national economies. The implication is that there is little scope for greater monetary coordination in the conventional sense, or adjusting the ...

Market economy status (MES) – a technical term used in antidumping investigations – has come to the top of the international agenda, bringing heated discussions on whether or not China will soon be granted this status. China argues that its WTO accession documents foresee an automatic acquisition of MES after 11 December 2016. Yet for many other WTO members, the text in question – Section 15 of China's Protocol of Accession – is subject to interpretation. The issue is sensitive for a number of reasons ...

During the Interparliamentary Committee Meeting, a debate took place on two key policy issues: the relationship between effectiveness and political legitimacy of the new framework for European Governance and the difficult cohabitation between austerity and growth. The need for a more active role of the European Parliament in the central elements of the European Semester (recommendations) was emphasised, as both accountability and political legitimacy are insufficiently accounted for. Assessment and ...