Global ETF News for the Past 2 Months
you are currently viewing::WTO-Trade imbalances and the limits of trade policyJuly 31, 2025--Trade imbalances have long been a concern for policymakers, prompting calls for corrective trade measures. Recent tariff actions- framed in part as efforts to reduce bilateral deficits -fit this established pattern. Notable precedents include the United States-Japan trade tensions of the 1980s and the global imbalance debates following the 2008 financial crisis. The connection is not merely anecdotal: empirical research shows that trade imbalances, particularly at the bilateral level, are strong predictors of trade action. Interpreting trade imbalances From an economic perspective, trade imbalances are not necessarily problematic. Sectoral imbalances arise from specialization: a country with a comparative advantage in services may run a surplus in services and a deficit in goods. Aggregate imbalances, in turn, reflect differences between national saving and investment. If a country invests more than it saves, the additional investment goods must come from abroad. From this perspective, trade imbalances are not signs of dysfunction, but channels through which economies realize the gains from trade, across sectors and over time. While trade imbalances can therefore reflect healthy economic forces, they are not immune to policy distortion. Tariffs can alter sectoral trade patterns, reducing the deficit in a targeted sector at the expense of other sectors. They can also distort bilateral flows, narrowing the deficit with a targeted partner while widening it with others. Industrial policy, now central to many policy debates, can have similar effects. Long-run broad-based industrial policy intervention can significantly influence the allocation of resources across sectors, often promoting tradable manufacturing over non-tradable services. Source: World Trade Organization (WTO) |
Is the world ageing out of interest rates?
December 3, 2025-Interest rates are a key monetary policy tool used by central banks around the world to encourage changes in economic activity.
But as the global population continues to skew older, traditional monetary policy tools such as rate-setting may become less effective.
Central banks need to find ways to keep interest rates relevant, but also develop alternative tools to navigate an uncertain global economy.
Global X: Investing Outlook Complicated by Contradictions in U.S. Economy and Evolving Geopolitical Order
December 3, 2025-Despite challenges, there are ample reasons for broad optimism, including AI-driven cost savings
Despite an outlook that is complicated by contradictions in the U.S. economy and an evolving geopolitical order, Global X Management Company LLC ("Global X"), the New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), believes there are ample reasons for broad optimism on the U.S. economy as well as certain international markets heading into the new year.
OECD Economic Outlook. Volume 2025 Issue 2 Resilient Growth but with Increasing Fragilities
December 2, 2025-The global economy has proved more resilient than expected this year, supported by improved financial conditions, rising AI-related investment and trade, and macroeconomic policies. However, underlying fragilities are increasing. Labour markets are showing first signs of weakening despite the OECD unemployment rate steady at 4.9%, with job vacancies falling below their 2019 average in many countries and confidence softening.
WTO-New report finds global value chains resilient, reconfiguring amid latest challenges
December 2, 2025-The value of global goods imports affected by new tariffs and other import measures increased more than fourfold from mid-October 2024 to mid-October 2025 compared to the prior 12-month period,marking the highest coverage in over 15 years of WTO trade monitoring,according to the WTO Director-General's latest annual overview of developments in the international trading environment.
Goods trade growth set to moderate as barometer index dips
November 28, 2025-Goods trade growth appears to have slowed in the second half of 2025 following a surge in the first half driven by frontloading of imports ahead of expected tariff hikes and by rising demand for AI-related products, according to the latest WTO Goods Trade Barometer.
Global economy: If a triple bubble looms, can we survive a triple burst?
November 28, 2025-The global economy faces three potential financial bubbles related to cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and debt.
All three are interconnected.
Bubbles tend to cause serious short-term pain when they burst-but they can also fundamentally reshape economies with lasting benefits.
It's not exactly reassuring when so many people start scanning the past for a read on what's happening in the present.
Even as Global Uncertainty Surges, Economic Sentiment Remains Positive
November 10, 2025-Amid rising geopolitical rifts and trade tensions, global economic uncertainty has surged, yet sentiment about economic prospects remains positive
Major policy shifts this year have been adding to unknowns about the future and policy decisions, according to our World Uncertainty Index which has doubled since January.
