INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND:F&D finance &development

 

Europe’s Integration Imperative JUNE 2025  (Credit: Brian Stauffer) Europe faces the most daunting set of challenges since the Cold War. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the first major war of aggression on European soil since 1945, has forced a fundamental questioning of old certainties. Economic recovery has stalled and stagnant productivity is dragging down medium-term growth prospects.   Yet if history is a guide, the European Union can turn adversity to advantage, Alfred Kammer, the director of the IMF’s European Department, writes in F&D.    After World War II, European nations faced the monumental task of rebuilding their economies, restoring political stability, and preventing future conflict. They met these challenges through economic integration and political cooperation, aspiring to the free movement of goods, services, people, and capital across borders.   The case for completing and deepening the single market has become even more compelling as external challenges multiply, Kammer writes. “Europe needs more growth and more economic resilience. A more fully integrated economy can deliver both.” Read more Europe: From Adversity to Advantage (Credit: John Hersey) Europe’s Elusive Savings and Investment Union | An integrated capital market must be accompanied by regulatory reforms to attract substantial investment | Ravi Balakrishnan and Mahmood Pradhan   Making Germany Grow Again | Long-term, future-focused investment can rescue Europe’s largest economy from stagnation | Ulrike Malmendier and Claudia Schaffranka   Europe’s Innovators Are Waking Up | The continent’s innovation success stories and renewed sense of purpose defy criticism of overregulation | Alessandro Merli   Plus, government ministers from three of Europe’s fastest-growing economies share their perspectives on how to boost growth: Europe’s Economic Revival | Poland’s successful economic transformation can inspire the continent today | Andrzej Domański Greece’s Remarkable Recovery | Strong reforms have turned Greece into one of Europe's fastest-growing economies | Konstantinos Hatzidakis Spain’s Shift to Success | Our new model of balanced and sustainable growth is overcoming traditional dilemmas | Carlos Cuerpo Point of View (Credit: Chantal Jahchan) Europe’s Future Hinges on Greater Unity | But first the EU must overcome distrust between its member states and in its institutions | Simon Nixon   We Need a New Growth Compact | Innovation and integration can revive growth amid sweeping geopolitical change | Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas   Reclaiming a Policy Role for Economists | Acknowledging missteps, listening well, defending data, and avoiding jargon will help the profession engage | Karen Dynan Also Featured (Credit: Hadley Hooper) The Longevity Dividend| Aging populations should be embraced, not feared | Andrew Scott and Peter Piot   Sustaining Growth in an Aging World | Older populations need not lead to slumping economic growth and mounting fiscal pressures | Bertrand Gruss and Diaa Noureldin   The Debate over Falling Fertility | A decline in global population later this century may threaten human progress, or it may lead to better lives | David E. Bloom, Michael Kuhn, and Klaus Prettner   Machine Intelligence and Human Judgment | AI could reverse the widening inequality driven by technology, or aggravate it | Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb   A Moving History | Migration has propelled human progress for hundreds of thousands of years | Ian Goldin Our Regular Departments (Credit: Mark Henley) Andreas Adriano profiles Agustín Carstens, finance minister, head of the BIS, and central banker with a start-up mentality, for People in Economics.   When controlled by a select few, tech innovation can be self-serving and undermine the institutions that make it possible, Simon Johnson says in Café Economics.   Kevin Fletcher explains why productivity, not competitiveness, is the better path to prosperity for Back to Basics.   Picture This shows how stalled trade and rising tariffs are testing global economic resilience.   For books, Mouhamadou Sy reviews Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead by Kenneth Rogoff.   Volker Wieland reviews Crisis Cycle: Challenges, Evolution, and Future of the Euro by John H. Cochrane, Luis Garicano, and Klaus Masuch.   And Vivek Arora reviews Entropy Economics: The Living Basis of Value and Production by James K. Galbraith and Jing Chen   For Currency Notes, Salsa Mazlan tells how Macao SAR’s unique history has yielded different yet equally elegant versions of the same banknote.   Nick Owen  Managing Editor | Finance & Development   nowen@IMF.org Stay connected with the International Monetary Fund: