The Price of Capital Goods: A Driver of Investment Under Threat

The Price of Capital Goods: A Driver of Investment Under Threat PDF

Author: Weicheng Lian

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-06-28

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 149832343X

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Over the past three decades, the price of machinery and equipment fell dramatically relative to other prices in advanced and emerging market and developing economies. Using cross-country and sectoral data, we show that the decline in the relative price of tangible tradable capital goods provided a significant impetus to the capital deepening that took place during the same time period. The broad-based decline in the relative price of machinery and equipment, in turn, was driven by the faster productivity growth in the capital goods producing sectors relative to the rest of the economy, and deeper trade integration, which induced domestic producers to lower prices and increase their efficiency. Our findings suggest an additional channel through which rising trade tensions and sluggish productivity could threaten real investment growth going forward.

Capital Goods Prices, Global Capital Markets and Accumulation, 1870-1950

Capital Goods Prices, Global Capital Markets and Accumulation, 1870-1950 PDF

Author: William J. Collins

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13:

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Conventional wisdom has it that global financial markets were as well integrated in the 1890s as in the 1990s, but that it took several post-war decades to regenerate the connections that existed before 1914. This view has emerged from a variety of tests for world financial capital market integration ranging from the correlation of saving and investment aggregates to the dispersion of security prices and real interest rates. Presumably, we care about global capital market integration because it can have an impact on accumulation performance and the global distribution of the capital stock. Oddly enough, however, the relative price of capital goods, an important component of the user cost of capital, has never been incorporated into studies of capital market integration and almost never in comparative studies of pre-1950 economic growth. This could be an important omission. This paper explores the issue with a panel data base 1870-1950 for eleven OECD countries. It turns out that capital goods prices have been central to accumulation, and therefore to growth and convergence. They have also been as important to the evolution of global capital markets as have been interest rates and other financial costs.

The Price of Capital

The Price of Capital PDF

Author: Laura Alfaro

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13:

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In this paper we use highly disaggregated data on trade in capital goods to study differences in the price of capital across countries. Our strategy is motivated by the fact that most countries import the bulk of machinery equipment (from a small number of industrialized countries). We find the price of imported capital goods to be negatively and significantly correlated with the income of the importing country. Because most low-income countries import the bulk of capital goods, our results provide suggestive evidence that capital goods are more expensive in poor countries, consistent with the conventional explanation regarding the low real investment rates in poor countries.

World Economic Outlook, April 2019

World Economic Outlook, April 2019 PDF

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-04-09

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1484397487

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After strong growth in 2017 and early 2018, global economic activity slowed notably in the second half of last year, reflecting a confluence of factors affecting major economies. China’s growth declined following a combination of needed regulatory tightening to rein in shadow banking and an increase in trade tensions with the United States. The euro area economy lost more momentum than expected as consumer and business confidence weakened and car production in Germany was disrupted by the introduction of new emission standards; investment dropped in Italy as sovereign spreads widened; and external demand, especially from emerging Asia, softened. Elsewhere, natural disasters hurt activity in Japan. Trade tensions increasingly took a toll on business confidence and, so, financial market sentiment worsened, with financial conditions tightening for vulnerable emerging markets in the spring of 2018 and then in advanced economies later in the year, weighing on global demand. Conditions have eased in 2019 as the US Federal Reserve signaled a more accommodative monetary policy stance and markets became more optimistic about a US–China trade deal, but they remain slightly more restrictive than in the fall.

World Economic Outlook, October 2023

World Economic Outlook, October 2023 PDF

Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2023-10-10

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13:

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The latest World Economic Outlook reports signs that policy tightening is starting to cool activity despite core inflation proving persistent. Risks are more balanced as banking sector stress has receded, but they remain tilted to the downside. Monetary policy should stay the course to bring inflation to target, while fiscal consolidation is needed to tackle soaring debts. Structural reforms are crucial to revive medium-term growth prospects amid constrained policy space.

World Economic Outlook, April 2024

World Economic Outlook, April 2024 PDF

Author: International Monetary

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2024-04-16

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13:

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The latest World Economic Outlook reports economic activity was surprisingly resilient through the global disinflation of 2022–23, despite significant central bank interest rate hikes to restore price stability. Risks to the global outlook are now broadly balanced compared with last year. Monetary policy should ensure that inflation touches down smoothly, while a renewed focus on fiscal consolidation is needed to rebuild room for budgetary maneuver and to ensure debt sustainability. Structural reforms are crucial to revive medium-term growth prospects amid constrained policy space.

Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle?

Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle? PDF

Author: Vizhdan Boranova

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-12-20

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 1513521276

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Wages have been rising faster than productivity in many European countries for the past few years, yet signs of underlying consumer price pressures remain limited. To shed light on this puzzle, this paper examines the historical link between wage growth and inflation in Europe and factors that influence the strength of the passthrough from labor costs to prices. Historically, wage growth has led to higher inflation, but the impact has weakened since 2009. Empirical analysis suggests that the passthrough from wage growth to inflation is significantly lower in periods of subdued inflation and inflation expectations, greater competitive pressures, and robust corporate profitability. Thus the recent pickup in wage growth is likely to have a more muted impact on inflation than in the past.

Are Capital Goods Tariffs Different?

Are Capital Goods Tariffs Different? PDF

Author: Sergii Meleshchuk

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2020-05-22

Total Pages: 35

ISBN-13: 1513545272

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In this paper we demonstrate the importance of distinguishing capital goods tariffs from other tariffs. Using exposure to a quasi-natural experiment induced by a trade reform in Colombia, we find that firms that have been more exposed to a reduction in intermediate and consumption input or output tariffs do not significantly increase their investment rates. However, firms’ investment rate increase strongly in response to a reduction in capital goods input tariffs. Firms do not substitute capital with labor, but instead also increase employment, especially for production workers. Reduction in other tariff rates do not increase investment and employment. Our results suggest that a reduction in the relative price of capital goods can significantly boost investment and employment and does not seem to lead to a decline in the labor share.

Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects

Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects PDF

Author: M. Ayhan Kose

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2024-03-06

Total Pages: 703

ISBN-13: 1464820015

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A structural growth slowdown is under way across the world: at current trends, the global rate of potential growth is expected to fall to a three-decade low over the remainder of the 2020s. Nearly all the forces that have powered growth and prosperity since the early 1990s have weakened. In addition, a series of shocks has affected the global economy over the past three years. A persistent and broad-based decline in long-term growth prospects imperils the ability of emerging market and developing economies to combat poverty, tackle climate change, and meet other key development objectives. The challenges presented by this potential inability call for an ambitious policy response at the national and global levels. This book presents the first detailed analysis of the growth slowdown and a rich menu of policy options to deliver better growth outcomes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This book presents a sobering analysis of the secular growth slowdown based on the most comprehensive database of potential growth estimates available to date. With nearly all the forces that have driven growth and prosperity in recent decades now weakened, the book argues that a prolonged period of weakness is under way, with serious implications for emerging market and developing economies. The authors call for bold policy actions at both the national and global levels to lift growth prospects. The book is essential reading for policy makers, economists, and anyone concerned about the future of the global economy. Beatrice Weder di Mauro Professor of International Economics, Geneva Graduate Institute, and President of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Economic policy making is becoming increasingly complicated in the 2020s. In addition to tackling traditional trade-offs in aggregate demand management and improving efficiency on the supply side, policy makers need to address new priorities and challenges, from addressing climate change and its impacts to improving income distribution, all in the context of lower growth rates, waning productivity growth, and flattening of the globalization process that has brought unprecedented prosperity across the globe and lifted more than a billion people out of poverty. In Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects, the authors do a phenomenal job of assessing these trends at the global and regional levels, identifying and unpacking salient twenty-first-century policy challenges, and providing thoughtful and evidence-based policy prescriptions for leaders in advanced, emerging market, and developing economies. Importantly, the book underscores that these challenges tend to be global and, hence, global cooperation at all levels is necessary to achieve optimal results. Alas, we seem to be going in the opposite direction; this book offers a road map to put us back on the path to creating a more integrated, prosperous, and equitable global community. Michael G. Plummer Director, SAIS Europe and ENI Professor of International Economics, The Johns Hopkins University

Germany

Germany PDF

Author: International Monetary Fund. European Dept.

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-07-10

Total Pages: 93

ISBN-13: 1498324622

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Germany’s economic performance has been strong for the past decade, but external factors and structural challenges are now weighing on growth. The export-dependent economy has been hit by the recent slowdown in global demand, while medium-term growth is expected to fall due to low productivity growth and adverse demographics. External imbalances remain large, partly reflecting rising top income inequality, macro-financial vulnerabilities are rising, and the financial sector continues to suffer from weak profitability. Still, fundamentals are sound, with public and private balance sheets remaining healthy, and the unemployment rate at record lows. Inflation is subdued, but wage growth is continuing to pick up, reflecting the strength of the labor market and increasingly binding capacity constraints.