Featured analysis

Latest analysis

Econographics

May 23, 2025

Can the EU leverage economic pressure to broker a Gaza cease-fire?

By Lize de Kruijf

As diplomatic efforts falter, attention is turning to economic statecraft—the strategic use of trade and economic leverage to influence state behavior. The European Union (EU) and United States are Israel’s largest and second-largest trading partners, and any economic pressure they apply could have severe consequences for Israel’s economy.

Conflict
Economy & Business

Econographics

May 16, 2025

The next 120 days of predictably volatile trade policy

By Barbara C. Matthews

The understandable relief associated with de-escalating the tariff war will soon fade as we enter a long, uncertain summer of tariff pauses and major negotiations. Take a look at some convenings that might be important.

Economy & Business
Trade and tariffs

AfricaSource

May 15, 2025

African governments should rethink their approach to combating money laundering and terrorist financing

By Benjamin Mossberg

African countries can bolster financial inclusion and tap economic growth opportunities—while preventing the abuse of the global financial system by nefarious actors.

Africa
Digital Currencies

EconoGraphics

May 13, 2025

Basel III endgame: The specter of global regulatory fragmentation

By Hung Tran

Diverging timelines for Basel III implementation are fragmenting global financial regulation. As major economies delay or dilute reforms, coordinated oversight erodes—posing renewed risks to international financial stability.

Economy & Business
Financial Regulation

Econographics

May 12, 2025

Multilateralism under pressure: Takeaways from the 2025 IMF Spring Meetings

By Bart Piasecki

The 2025 IMF Spring Meetings unfolded against a backdrop of mounting geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, and rising doubts about the future of multilateral cooperation. Here are the key insights.

International Financial Institutions
Macroeconomics

Econographics

May 8, 2025

Pope Leo XIV’s electors represented Catholics’ changing economic distribution

By Israel Rosales

While the direction Pope Leo XIV will take the Church is unclear at this early stage, he’s unlikely to reverse Pope Francis’s push to elevate voices from the Global South.

Economy & Business
International Financial Institutions

Econographics

Apr 30, 2025

US-EU sanctions divergence would spell trouble for multinational companies

By Jesse Sucher

The fracturing of traditional alliances carries significant consequences for companies facing multijurisdictional compliance obligations, meaning an already complex situation will become more chaotic.

Economy & Business
Europe & Eurasia

Fintech Frontlines

Apr 21, 2025

Fast payments in action: Emerging lessons from Brazil and India

By Polina Kempinsky

These lessons are shaping a framework governments can use to evaluate their need for central bank-led immediate payment systems, their potential structure, organizational features, and the trade-offs involved.

Brazil
Digital Currencies

EconoGraphics

Apr 17, 2025

Russia Sanctions Database: April 2025

By Kimberly Donovan, Maia Nikoladze, Lize de Kruijf, and Nazima Tursun

Please note, this is the April 2025 edition of Atlantic Council’s Russia Sanctions Database. After Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western partners imposed unprecedented financial sanctions and export controls against Russia. These measures aim to achieve three objectives: 1. Significantly reduce Russia’s revenues from commodities exports;2. Cripple Russia’s military capability and […]

Economy & Business
European Union

Econographics

Apr 17, 2025

Russia Sanctions Database

By Kimberly Donovan, Maia Nikoladze, Lize de Kruijf

The Atlantic Council’s Russia Sanctions Database tracks the level of coordination among Western allies in sanctioning Russian entities, individuals, vessels, and aircraft, and shows where gaps still remain.

Eastern Europe
Economy & Business

Content

EconoGraphics

May 8, 2020

US States’ Covid-19 Response – Short-Term Pain = Long-Term Gain?

By Ole Moehr | Graphics by Nikolai Albishausen and William Bonney

This edition of the EconoGraphic compares Covid-19’s impact with previous economic shocks, presents data on how public health restrictions influenced economic recoveries during the Spanish Flu, and contrasts US states’ reopening decisions with unemployment trends across the country.

Economy & Business
Macroeconomics

EconoGraphics

Apr 1, 2020

Coronavirus versus financial crisis: US policy responses compared

By Ole Moehr | Graphics by Nikolai Albishausen

A look at the economic harm done so far and contrasts the measures taken by the Federal Reserve (Fed), Congress, and the G20 in response to coronavirus.

Economy & Business
Macroeconomics

EconoGraphics

Aug 28, 2019

US-EU Auto Tariffs: What’s at Stake?

By OLE MOEHR | GRAPHICS BY MARIANNA ASLUND, NICK BROWN, ANDREW LASCALEIA

Escalating trade tensions between the world’s major economies are widely considered the greatest threat to the global economy’s health. Following the White House’s cancellation of its threatened tariffs on all Mexican imports on June 7, attention swiftly turned back to the brewing US-China trade war. This edition of the EconoGraphic, however, puts the focus on how US tariffs on cars and car parts might disrupt transatlantic trade flow.

Economy & Business
European Union

EconoGraphics

Aug 9, 2019

Breaking Down France’s Digital Tax

By BY ANDREW LASCALEIA, EDITED BY OLE MOEHR | GRAPHICS BY MARIANNA ASLUND AND ANDREW LASCALEIA

In July, France’s parliament ratified a new law to tax big digital tech firms making it the first country to pass a tax law of this manner. Paris’ new tax scheme triggered criticism from the Trump Administration and is further complicating the transatlantic relationship. This edition of the EconoGraphic explains the motivation behind taxing digital technology firms more aggressively, the way that the French tax will work, and the potential impacts and response to the tax.

Economy & Business
Financial Regulation

EconoGraphics

Jul 23, 2019

My Way or the Huawei: 5G at the Center of US-China Strategic Competition

By OLE MOEHR | GRAPHICS BY MARIANNA ASLUND, NICK BROWN, ANDREW LASCALEIA

On July 22, President Trump met with a group of major tech CEOs to discuss the easing of some restrictions on US companies supplying high-tech parts to Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. In May, the US Commerce Department banned US companies from selling any products to Huawei. The Chinese company’s position as the world’s leading provider of 5G technology has made it a focal point of the escalating great power competition between China and the United States. This edition of the EconoGraphic explains the US government’s move to blacklist Huawei, outlines the ban’s potential costs, and describes why US allies are conflicted about banning Huawei.

China
Economy & Business

EconoGraphics

Jun 3, 2019

US Cuba policy: EU and Canadian firms to suffer?

By BY OLE MOEHR | GRAPHICS BY SHIQING HUA, FRANCIS AUBEE, AND NICK BROWN

On April 17 2019, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced an important change in the United States’ policy toward Cuba: Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democracy Solidarity Act of 1996 (LIBERTAD Act) would no longer be suspended. As a result of this decision, US claimants can now seek compensation for property confiscated by the Castro government. The move has important implications for US and foreign companies doing business in Cuba. This edition of the EconoGraphic explains the history and purpose of the LIBERTAD Act, evaluates the policy’s potential impact on US allies’ economic interests in Cuba, and highlights its implications for the pressure campaign against the Maduro regime in Venezuela.

Cuba
Economy & Business

EconoGraphics

Apr 29, 2019

Central Bank Independence Under Scrutiny

By Ole Moehr | Graphics by Shiqing Hua and Francis Aubee

On April 26, following stronger than expected US economic growth numbers, the White House’s National Economic Council director, Larry Kudlow, urged the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut interest rates by 50 basis points.

Economy & Business
Financial Regulation

EconoGraphics

Feb 6, 2019

A Breakdown of the Sanctions Deal between the United States and Oleg Deripaska

By Ole Moehr | Graphics by Shiqing Hua and Zachary Coles

On January 16, a US Senate resolution to maintain US sanctions on the Russian aluminum giant RUSAL and its holding company EN+ failed to garner the necessary 60 votes to pass. As a result, the Trump administration lifted its economic sanctions on RUSAL and EN+ on January 27.

Economy & Business
Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Blogs

Dec 21, 2018

Economic Outlook for 2019

By Global Business & Economics Program

December 2018 is set to become the worst year-end finish for US markets since 1931. A yield curve inversion combined with the fourth annual rate hike by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and growing geo-political uncertainty, triggered widespread angst among US investors about an economic slowdown and the increasing probability of a recession. This edition of the EconoGraphic assesses key economic indicators to make a case that while a slowing of the US economy seems certain, a recession in the next two years remains unlikely.

China
Economy & Business

EconoGraphics

Dec 5, 2018

Trade Disrupted: US and China Need More Than a Truce

By Ole Moehr

At this year’s G20 summit in Buenos Aires, the trade dispute between China and the United States took center stage. Chinese President Xi and his US counterpart President Donald Trump agreed to avoid further escalations of the ongoing bilateral trade war for the next 90 days. The temporary deal does not assuage the escalatory measures already taken, leaving the existing tariffs in place. This edition of the EconoGraphic explores how the brewing trade conflict is impacting manufacturing supply chains, soybean cargo routes, and trade flows of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) among the United States, China, and the rest of the world.

China
Economy & Business