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Featured Economic Studies, Country Reports Article, Meeting the challenges of China’s growing cities
Meeting the challenges of China’s growing cities

July 2008

China’s cities are booming. Intelligent policies could make the good effects prevail over the bad ones.

Featured Economic Studies, Country Reports Article, Investing Gulf's oil profits windfall
Investing the Gulf's oil profits windfall

May 2008

Despite many uncertainties, the GCC states will probably be able to finance their own investment needs and those of the world economy to boot.

Featured Economic Studies, Country Reports Article, global financial markets
Long-term trends in the global capital markets

February 2008

Several current trends will continue to influence the world’s financial markets long after the present bout of turbulence ends.

The Archive

2007
Serving aging baby boomers

November 2007

Baby boomers have rewritten the rules at every stage of their lives. They will rewrite the rules of retirement as well.

India’s executives: Confident in their economy and eager to hire

October 2007

Executives in India are consistently the world’s most optimistic about their country’s economic prospects, McKinsey research shows.

Securing India’s place in the global economy

October 2007

GDP growth is soaring, and India’s economic reforms are bearing fruit. But there’s much left to do.

Tracking the growth of India’s middle class

August 2007

Over the next two decades, the country’s middle class will grow from about 5 percent of the population to more than 40 percent and create the world’s fifth-largest consumer market.

Checking Latin America's vital signs

March 2007

Recent growth has given Latin America the economic health to tackle its pressing challenges: poverty, educational needs, and business-choking red tape.

Five priorities for Brazil's economy

March 2007

To enter the ranks of the world’s leading economies, the country must remove entrenched barriers to productivity.

Getting labor policy to work in the Gulf

February 2007

For GCC states, liberalizing the labor market and developing the local workforce are the keys to moving beyond a reliance on foreign workers.

Shedding light on the Gulf's middle class

February 2007

Little is known about the middle class in the GCC states, but a recent survey illuminates the hopes, fears, and expectations of this important segment.

Beyond oil: Reappraising the Gulf States

January 2007

Further reform will be essential if one of the world’s fastest-growing regions is to seize a broader role in the global economy.

2006
India's financial system: More market, less government

August 2006

A stronger financial system would make the economy grow more quickly and ensure higher tax revenues—without higher tax rates.

Checking China's vital signs: The social challenge

June 2006

China's performance in meeting its key social challenges shows how far it has come and how far it has yet to go.

Sweden's growth paradox

June 2006

Productivity is rising, but the level of employment among working-age people actually declined from 1992 to 2003.

2005
Checking India's vital signs

September 2005

A graphic look at India's economic progress and problems.

Beyond cheap labor: Lessons for developing economies

February 2005

How can middle-income countries like Mexico compete with China? By adding higher value.

2004
Checking China's vital signs

December 2004

A graphic look at the country’s remarkable economic transition.

Making foreign investment work for China

December 2004

The radically different experience of two industries shows that the country needs more competition as well.

Making Portugal competitive

August 2004

By dismantling domestic barriers to productivity growth, the country could rise to a new level of economic development.

A richer future for India

July 2004

Two industries have shown what can be achieved when the country opens itself up to the world. Now the rest of the economy should follow suit.

Integrating Southeast Asia's economies

February 2004

The region is falling behind its rivals. Turning it into a true single market would boost its competitiveness and help restore its economic luster.

2003
Securing Hong Kong's future

December 2003

The current economic downturn isn’t wholly responsible for Hong Kong’s woes. Fortunately, solutions are well within reach.

Turkey’s quest for stable growth

December 2003

Turkey has come a long way, but the informal economy, macroeconomic and political instability, and state ownership continue to hold it back.

Reviving French and German productivity

February 2003

Differences in IT spending are not the root cause of the gap between US and European productivity. Europe's basic problem is inappropriate regulation that hinders innovation.

2002
Micro lessons for Argentina Premium Content

May 2002

In Latin America, macroeconomic reform isn’t enough: sustained growth can be achieved only by removing microeconomic barriers to productivity as well.

What's right with the US economy

February 2002

The secret behind the new economy isn’t information technology but old-fashioned competition and managerial innovation.

2001
India— From emerging to surging Premium Content

December 2001

In a decade, the country could more than double its gross domestic product per capita—but only if its government and people act quickly and decisively.

Photo essay: Visions of India Premium Content

December 2001

Award-winning photographer Swapan Parekh portrays a workforce poised between old ways and new.

Thailand's chance for no-pain gain Premium Content

December 2001

The recovery is fading, but fundamental economic reform could help Thailand avoid Japan’s fate.

2000
Reviving Japan's economy Premium Content

December 2000

Today’s woeful economic performance is not so much a reversal of fortune as a revelation of the hollowness of Japan’s success in the 1980s.

Hungary for reinvestment Premium Content

June 2000

In a study of investments in Hungary made by 38 foreign companies, McKinsey found many of these businesses ready to reinvest there, at least under a sympathetic government.

Sustaining Poland’s hard-won prosperity Premium Content

June 2000

If deregulation, privatization, and openness to outside investment continue—and the government steers clear of regulatory traps—Poland will continue to show that economic “shock therapy” can create a flourishing economy.

Reflections on Russia Premium Content

February 2000

Russia privatized its economy but failed to transform it. Most of the old businesses are bad. Most of the new ones are little better. What is to be done?

1998
Why is labor productivity in the United Kingdom so low? Premium Content

November 1998

There’s not enough competition. The major culprit is product market regulation. Can social objectives be achieved at lower cost?

Will Brazil seize its future? Premium Content

August 1998

Per capita income could double in ten years. But first the country must solve a big problem: low productivity. Case studies of eight industries show what can be done.

The roots of Korea’s crisis Premium Content

May 1998

The best manufacturing technology did not lead to high productivity. Now is the time for deregulation. But it must embrace both manufacturing and services.

1997
Boosting Dutch economic performance Premium Content

November 1997

Despite the headlines, the Netherlands still trails other economies. But it could create one and a half million new jobs over the next decade. Six barriers stand in the way.

Germany and France: Confronting the costs of social policies

May 1997

A new study establishes the case for improving productivity. It’s time to recognize that regulation has not preserved incomes, provided access to services, or prevented job losses. An analysis of six industries: automotive, housing construction, telecom, retail banking, retail, and computer software.

1996
What ails Australia? Premium Content

February 1996

Government regulation is partially to blame; so are the low aspirations of business leaders. Here are case studies in retailing, banking, aviation, construction, and processed food.

1995
India and China: Asia’s non-identical twins Premium Content

May 1995

Sleeping Beauty versus Dungeons and Dragons. Why regional approaches aren’t working. An analysis of telecoms, pharmaceuticals, steel, paper, and food.

1994
Latin American productivity Premium Content

May 1994

Better standards of living rest on better productivity and that, in turn, on improved managerial practice.

China’s high road to economic development Premium Content

February 1994

An excerpt from China: The Next Economic Superpower.

1993
A fresh look at India Premium Content

May 1993

India’s economy now offers huge opportunities for pioneers with the will to create markets and industries.

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