Comment

Oil prices were not quite as consequential for global growth in 2015 as seemed likely at the beginning of the year. But 2016 could be different, and not in a good way – especially for producers. A column by Kenneth Rogoff.

If the public becomes cynical and suspicious about the way property is acquired in the modern age, it will turn away from markets and seek alternatives. A column by Victoria Curzon Price.

Governments must recognize that ultra-easy monetary policy will not restore sustainable growth and that its undesirable side effects will not be adequately mitigated by macro prudential polices. A column by Bill White.

It is becoming increasingly clear that ensuring economic opportunities for refugees should be high on the EU’s agenda. A column by Harold James.

Dividing Iraq into separate Sunni and Shia states could result in a tragedy like the one in 1947, when millions of people died during the partition of India and Pakistan. A column by Carl Bildt.

What really matters for financial systems is the extent of equity financing. Current levels are so low that banks’ equity can be substantially wiped out by even moderate negative shocks. A column by Simon Johnson.

As Europe attempts to build a sustainable, prosperous union, it should look to the US and Switzerland for guidance. Both began as defense alliances and only later developed fiscal unions. A column by Hans-Werner Sinn.

Pushing ahead to deeper integration is infeasible politically, allowing the EU to fall apart would be a disaster. Why not take Europe’s long-established «principle of subsidiarity» seriously? A column by Barry Eichengreen.

Overcoming the understandable caution of Chinese households in the face of an uncertain future is key to the indispensable structural change of the economy towards more private consumption. A column by Stephen S. Roach.

The dollar weakened twice during the last two periods of Fed tightening. Although the same thing might not happen again, this means that a rise in the dollar is not inevitable if interest rates go up. A column by Anatole Kaletsky.

The return to the first pillar should adjust automatically in response to changes in productivity growth and demographics. The second pillar should offer unadjusted market rates. A column by Fabrizio Zilibotti.

An even more expansionary monetary-policy stance of the ECB might strengthen the recovery marginally, but at the cost of increasing the eurozone’s already-dangerous imbalances. A column by Daniel Gros.