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recessie

  • Le marché du travail au fil des récessions

    Donderdag 16/11/2023
    Geoffrey Minne

    The labour market is closely tied to the business cycle, and recessions generally lead to a decrease in labour demand. However, even though recessions have common markers, they have their own characteristics, and the impact on employment varies depending on factors such as the amplitude or the duration of the business cycle, or the cause and the origin of a recession. Temporality is also a specific aspect: there is a time lag between some labour market indicators and the business cycle, and some negative shocks can affect the labour market even after the recovery period. The COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily caused a significant drop in Belgian GDP, but employment has been resilient in the initial phase of the recession and has grown strongly afterward. It is important to note, however, that labour market reactions are often delayed, the economic context remains uncertain, and qualitative changes have emerged during this period.

  • Inflatiecrisis dreigt structurele schade toe te brengen aan de Belgische economie

    Woensdag 7/12/2022
    Bart Van Craeynest

    The current inflation crisis implies higher input costs, higher wage costs, pressure on margins, increasing interest rates and recession for Belgian companies. Even more important is the fact that this crisis is creating a double handicap of energy and wage costs for our economy. This will lead to less investment spending, less hiring and less economic activity. Especially the wage cost issue is looking like a painful déjà-vu. As in the past, the way out of this situation runs through an adjustment of the wage indexation mechanism. However, the economic pain probably needs to increase before the required adjustment becomes politically feasible.

  • Economische conjunctuur: een korte reis rond de wereld

    Maandag 14/11/2022
    Hans Bevers

    Persistently high inflation and aggressive monetary policy tightening seem set to cause a global recession. Central banks around the world have been raising interest rates this year with a degree of synchronicity not seen over the past five decades. Meanwhile, confidence among firms and households has fallen to depressed levels. The pace of monetary tightening will likely slow in the coming months. However, more forceful action might be required to dampen demand and drive inflation out of the economic system. Another risk is that higher interest rates cause problems in the financial system which then seep into the real economy.

    The eurozone is suffering from the surge in energy prices, rising interest rates and weaker external demand. The question is not whether the region faces a recession, but rather how deep and how long it will last. And with inflation to stay uncomfortably high, the ECB will press on with tightening policy. The US economy will likely experience a milder recession in 2023, as rate hikes weigh on consumption and investment (particularly residential). Inflation may well fall back more rapidly than widely expected, opening the door for rate cuts again from late 2023 onwards. In China, despite greater policy stimulus, growth will remain depressed next year as the zero-COVID approach continues to weigh on activity, exports fall, and property construction fails to recover materially.

  • The world economy under COVID-19: can emerging market economies keep the engine running?

    Donderdag 5/11/2020
    Kristel Buysse / Dennis Essers
    Buysse / Essers

    COVID-19 has led to profound turmoil and severe disruptions in our lives and economies. Even more than the 2008–2009 global financial crisis (GFC)—which was most directly felt in the United States and in Europe—the current pandemic-induced crisis is affecting nearly all countries around the world. This article provides an overview of the economic developments in emerging market economies (EMEs), with a focus on those that have been systemically important for the world and/or euro area economy: China, India, Brazil, Russia and Turkey. A decade ago, EMEs succeeded in weathering the crisis rather well and were the engine of the subsequent global recovery. Based on our overview, we conclude that EMEs will most likely not play that role again throughout the COVID-19 crisis.