Australia’s economy, like that of almost all other rich countries, is increasingly dominated by its service sector. This paper sheds light on the evolution of the services sector in Australia, busts some common misconceptions about services, and highlights the challenges associated with services productivity measurement and growth.

This study assesses the global macroeconomic consequences of changes in climate risk. The authors also explore the impact of country-specific, economy-wide carbon taxes as a representative policy action to drive the global economy to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century.

Another generation of women will have to wait for gender parity, according to this report. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt, closing the global gender gap has increased by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years.

This briefing highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating economic and social insecurity for more than 2 billion people employed in the informal sector, and adding to global inequality. The author argues that a radical rethink of the nature of work and social insurance is needed.

The key finding in this paper is that financial conditions provide useful information about downside risks to GDP and employment growth, and upside risks to the unemployment rate. That is, when financial conditions are extremely restrictive, the risks of very bad outcomes for these variables increase.