The bleak outlook for the labour market implies there is a strong case for measures to boost consumer spending in order to keep the recovery on track. A host of instruments can be considered: vouchers, VAT rate cuts, income tax cuts, tax credits, negative income taxes. Amongst these, a voucher programme offers many advantages given the possibility for fine-tuning the target group, the final beneficiaries, the type of spending and the regional dimension. However, it comes with considerable administrative costs.
Are we over the worst? In the short term, that would seem to be the message from the latest economic data for May and June at our disposal. Having hit record lows in April, activity indicators posted a rally in May, and an even steeper recovery in June. This recovery was expected, despite the public health measures still in force, given the ending of the lockdown in the eurozone member states. However, the economic activity is still weaker than in normal periods (pandemic free) [...]
With an increasing number of countries scaling back if not removing the lockdown measures, the purchasing managers’ indices have improved further in June. The world manufacturing PMI is now even above the level reached in February. Big increases have been noted in the US, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Turkey, Indonesia and Vietnam. Brazil and India have also seen a considerable improvement, which seems at odds with the health situation in these countries [...]
