Of Interest News
The OECD Index of Digital Trade Integration and Openness (INDIGO)
September 12, 2025-Policy Trends up to 2025
Key messages
Global discussions on digital trade are in their early stages but are rapidly gaining momentum. The world economy is just 8.5% of the way towards what could be considered full global digital trade integration and openness. Recent years have seen an increase in the diversity of the issues covered in international discussions,largely due to digital trade provisions in trade agreements and digital economy agreements.
Stablecoins, Tokens, and Global Dominance
September 9, 2025-Technology is reshaping capital flows and currency dominance; data integrity is essential for financial stability
Technology is poised to shake up the international monetary and financial system. How that happens depends on whether technologies are shaped by the public sector or the private sector sets standards first. Also at play are regulations, international cooperation, and the resilience of new technologies to cyber risk.
Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds
August 28, 2025--Scientists say 'shocking' discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic fallout
The collapse of a critical Atlantic current can no longer be considered a low-likelihood event,a study has concluded,making deep cuts to fossil fuel emissions even more urgent to avoid the catastrophic impact.
Why investing in Southern Africa's critical minerals is key for the global energy transition
August 6, 2025--The energy transition has turbocharged the global demand for minerals.
The Southern Africa region holds nearly a third of the world's critical mineral reserves.
World Cannot Recycle Its Way Out of Plastics Crisis, Report Warns
August 4, 2025--The 8 billion tons of plastic waste that have amassed on Earth pose a grave and growing danger to human health, according to a new report published in the leading medical journal The Lancet. Ahead of a U.N. conference on plastic pollution, authors warn that countries urgently need to cut production.
The Brain Economy: The New New Thing
August 2, 2025--At a recent gathering of the G7 conference goers were told the future of economic growth depends on optimizing ‘brain capital,' a term that encompasses brain health and cognitive, emotional, and social skills.
The brain economy, the idea that communities, societies, and countries contribute to economic growth and stability through their collective brainpower, is the New New Thing and in the coming months governments and companies are likely to hear a lot more about it.
New Standards for Economic Data Aim to Sharpen View of Global Economy
July 31, 2025--The updated System of National Accounts better captures digitalization, intangible assets, and global production-helping governments support growth, jobs, and investment
The cornerstones of our digital world-from smartphone apps to new digital assets and artificial intelligence tools-didn't exist back in 2008, the last time the world's statistical community overhauled its approach to standardizing how countries measure the economy.
Ranked: 25 Richest Countries in the World, by Three Metrics
July 29, 2025--Key Takeaways
Luxembourg's immense GDP per capita ($141K) masks the fact that much of it is generated by non-residents who commute in to work.
Qatar's oil windfall lifts GDP per capita ($72K) but that hasn't translated into broader wealth.
English-speaking countries translate middling GDP per capita into high median wealth through property ownership and strong pension systems.
Currency Dominance in the Digital Age
July 28, 2025--As digital technologies become the rails upon which money moves, the resilience and credibility of currency networks increasingly hinge on the integrity of technological infrastructure. This fundamentally changes the logic of monetary competition, with far-reaching implications for financial and geopolitical stability.
Unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater availability, and increasing land contributions to sea level rise
July 25, 2025--Abstract
Changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) are a critical indicator of freshwater availability. We use NASA GRACE/GRACE-FO data to show that the continents have undergone unprecedented TWS loss since 2002. Areas experiencing drying increased by twice the size of California annually, creating "mega-drying" regions across the Northern Hemisphere.
While most of the world's dry/wet areas continue to get drier/wetter, dry areas are now drying faster than wet areas are wetting.
