Economic news and analysis

U.S. private credit is unsettling the markets. Are investors about to relive the 2008 crisis?

The violence in the Middle East is taking a heavy human toll. The ongoing threat of drones and explosives is significantly disrupting the transport of fossil fuels in the region, leading to higher gas and oil prices. It remains difficult to predict whether or when a ceasefire will be reached. Nevertheless, based on scenarios developed by our colleagues in London, we can assess the potential impact on the Belgian economy.

AI-powered shopping assistants promise faster and cheaper deals by negotiating with online sellers. Yet new research shows that outcomes depend heavily on users’ ability to guide the bot effectively. As AI reshapes online shopping, a new digital divide based on “machine fluency” may emerge.

Economic growth in our country slowed sharply in the fourth quarter. This slowdown is reflected in our latest nowcast for the first three months of this year. Traditional indicators and our bank index point to sluggish growth. Recent international events have added further pressure since early March, although we do not currently expect a recession.

The war in Iran inevitably brings back memories of the energy crisis of 1979, when the Iranian Revolution led to soaring oil prices, long queues at petrol stations and a global inflation shock. And yet, even if new risks have emerged, the global economy in 2026 is, in several important respects, less vulnerable to an oil shock than it was then.

Over the past two centuries, the Belgian economy has evolved from an agricultural economy to an industrial one, and eventually into a knowledge economy. Education has become increasingly important. Today, highly educated workers dominate the labour market, and the majority of them are women. Yet their catch-up process is not complete when we look at leadership positions within companies, despite the growing number of female entrepreneurs.