This country note provides information on latest trends in income inequalities as well as key findings from the 2011 OECD report "Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising".

The global economy is stuck in a low-growth trap that will require more coordinated and comprehensive use of fiscal, monetary and structural policies to move to a higher growth path and ensure that promises are kept to both young and old, according to the OECD’s latest Global Economic Outlook.

This chapter from the 2015 OECD Business and Finance Outlook examines the potential impact of an environment of protracted low interest rates on pension systems and life insurance companies. It describes the mechanisms through which prolonged low interest rates can affect the solvency position of these institutions and uses available data to assess potential impacts.

2 December 2015 - The global financial and economic crisis of 2008 left the international monetary system with vulnerabilities caused by volatile capital flows and spillovers from national policy responses. The current policy environment has moved multilateral co-operation, openness and transparency to the top of the capital flow policy agenda.

Belgium’s tax, labour, pension and education reforms have improved the potential for stronger, sustainable and inclusive growth over the long term. Keeping up this momentum on structural reforms is key to energise the economy and keep it resilient to external risks and uncertainties, according to a new OECD report.

The United States should do more to foster innovation and provide more equitable access to high-quality education in order to maintain its status as the world's most vibrant and productive economy, according to OECD's latest Economic Survey of the United States.

The Colombian economy is strong and the outlook is promising, but the country must do more to ensure that the ongoing commodities boom contributes to sustainable and inclusive growth over the long-term, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Assessment of Colombia.

In Europe, the two most pressing structural policy priorities that must be addressed are the challenge of unemployment and the restoration the health of euro area banks, said OECD Secretary-General in Brussels.

Despite the harsh external economic environment, Germany has managed to reduce unemployment significantly while buttressing the long-term sustainability of its public finances. Drawing on the expertise and experience of OECD member countries, this report sets out key policy priorities to boost productivity growth and social inclusion.

Having been hit hard by the global crisis, the Portuguese government has taken action to put its economy back on track, and to correct external and budgetary imbalances. This document highlights some key priorities to support economic growth and competitiveness through further productivity-enhancing structural reforms.

The Swedish economy has been among the most resilient in Europe, despite the slow global recovery and high uncertainty, but challenges remain if it is to maintain high growth and well-being and extend prosperity to all, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Sweden.

The global economy is stuck in a low-growth trap that will require more coordinated and comprehensive use of fiscal, monetary and structural policies to move to a higher growth path and ensure that promises are kept to both young and old, according to the OECD’s latest Global Economic Outlook.

Modernisation has mainly been achieved by training young Slovenians to fill new occupations. In contrast, those with obsolete skills tend to retire or become unemployed rather than retrain, leaving Slovenia with persistent long-term unemployment, and amongst the lowest employment rates of older workers in the OECD.

Slovenia has continued to shift from traditional manufacturing to business services and high-tech production. However, not all Slovenians have been included in this progress.

Deepening regional integration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will raise potential growth for all member countries.

The German economy is undergoing a robust expansion, with record-low unemployment and real wage gains underpinning domestic demand while strong exports are driving business investment. The strong fiscal position will offer opportunities for funding structural reforms and public investment to meet future challenges, according to a new report from the OECD.

Short-term prospects for the Korean economy are good, with an uptick in world trade and fiscal policy driving growth, but productivity remains relatively low and the country faces the most rapid population ageing in the OECD area, according to a new report from the OECD.

Imports of Sheep & Goats, Live in Mexico remained unchanged at 0 USD THO in March from 0 USD THO in February of 2020. Imports of Sheep & Goats, Live in Mexico averaged 259.42 USD THO from 2014 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 11616 USD THO in June of 2015 and a record low of 0 USD THO in October of 2015. This page includes a chart with historical data for Mexico Imports of Sheep & Goats, Live.

Unemployment rate soars to 14.7% as 20.5m people lose jobs in April

Advanced equipment can detect problems 75 days before they occur

Many see the epidemic as divine retribution for our sins

Proprietary trading is hard to identify and did not cause the crisis

Subsidies and freebies to retain cash-strapped users add to sector’s financial burden

Brooding subject matter meets richly detailed music in the British rapper’s fifth album

Alstom will have its work cut out to get the Canadian group’s margins back on track, but greater scale would help it compete with industry leader CRRC

Taipei says foreign visitors will be allowed to enter once a vaccine is discovered

UN official warns that war-ravaged country cannot deal with an outbreak of the disease

Pandemic stopped protests in Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon, but crisis likely to fuel fresh wave of unrest

Stylists advise on how to look professional when working remotely. Join a live discussion on Friday April 24 at noon and 5pm

A concert sponsored by insurance company Direct Line aims to help time-challenged audiences snatch some shut-eye – but a wakeful FT arts writer finds that the relationship between art and sleep is not a straightforward one  

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Politicians love to keep things simple, at least in their public pronouncements. Artists, by contrast, embrace complication, nuance and imagination – so who better to tackle slippery questions of national identity as the UK prepares for a general election?  

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Peter Aspden tells the story of Burt Bacharach’s feelgood anthem ‘Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head’  

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How much sleep do we need to get the most out of our waking hours?

Dry varietal Furmint has caught on with local winemakers and oenophiles as sweet wines have fallen out of fashion

The agencies don’t plot presidential coups — but few heroes emerge in David Rohde’s study ‘In Deep’

Money worries have taken on a new meaning with the market woes and the Budget next week

President acts as though Latin America’s second-largest economy is immune to pandemic

Korean electronics group draws on lessons from past epidemics to tackle coronavirus crisis

A sleep loss epidemic is making its mark on the workplace, but what are its causes and what should businesses do to ensure their fatigued employees get a good night’s kip? Louise Aston and James Wilson talk to Darren Dodd about where employers are going wrong and what needs to be done.

This podcast forms part of FT Health at Work magazine, supported by Vitality. 

Business in the Community's Sleep and Recovery Toolkit for employers can be found here, and their responsible business podcasts, here. James Wilson’s website is available here.

Contributors: Darren Dodd, editor of FT Health at Work magazine, Louise Aston wellbeing director at Business in the Community and, James Wilson, sleep specialist. Producer: Persis Love

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The FT News Briefing is a rundown of the global business stories you need to know for the coming day, from the newsroom of the Financial Times. If you enjoy it, subscribe to the FT News Briefing wherever you get your podcasts, or listen at FT.com/newsbriefing. 

Western governments pledged trillions of dollars in stimulus measures to limit the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday. The FT’s global business columnist Rana Foroohar explains what it could mean for Wall Street and Main Street. Plus, Impossible Foods raises $500m in a round that will help the US-plant based burger group to see through the economic upheaval caused by the current crisis, and Joe Biden solidifies his status as the frontrunner to take on Donald Trump in November.

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As Beijing connects the region, the Philippines weighs ‘shutdown’ risk

Move could pave way for company to shift primary listing to London

Investors encouraged to take time before making any changes to their retirement plans

Consumer goods group missed its moment but there is much to keep investors onside

French energy group makes emissions pledge as first-quarter profits drop 35%

State-owned oil group faces risk of further rating downgrades and grapples with output woes

Zeitgold has raised a Series B round of $29.2 million (€27 million). Overall, the company has raised more than $54 million (€50 million). The company is building a software platform for small companies to automate bookkeeping as much as possible. Vintage Investment Partners is leading today’s round with existing investors Battery Ventures, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, […]

Deep Render, a London startup and spin-out of Imperial College that is applying machine learning to image compression, has raised £1.6 million in seed funding. Leading the round is Pentech, with participation from Speedinvest. Founded in mid-2017 by Arsalan Zafar and Chri Besenbruch, who met while studying Computer Science at Imperial College London, Deep Render […]

Volkswagen and Daimler report billions of dollars in lost profits due to impact of coronavirus

A pacy, personal but unrevealing account of David Cameron’s government