Insights

White-collar job openings have slowed due to investor-driven cost-cutting and economic uncertainty, even without widespread layoffs. Companies are cautious about workforce expansion amid concerns about artificial intelligence hype ("AI washing") and the overall economic environment, leading to a cooling in hiring despite the absence of mass job cuts.
Why Hiring Has Slowed Without Mass Layoffs
Climate change is significantly increasing household costs through rising insurance premiums, higher utility bills, and declining property values due to increased flood and climate risks. In the US, homes exposed to flood risk are overvalued by up to $237 billion, with potential losses reaching $1.47 trillion by 2055. Government-backed insurance programs are financially strained, with programs like the US’s NFIP $22 billion in debt. Adaptation costs are often passed on to consumers through increased bills, as seen with California’s wildfire-related energy cost hikes. While President Trump claimed rolling back vehicle emissions rules would save consumers money, these savings are mainly compliance cost reductions for manufacturers, with limited direct benefits to consumers. Climate change also threatens jobs, especially in outdoor sectors, and poses health risks to billions of workers, adding to economic instability and pension vulnerabilities.
Financial services
Trump claims his pollution rollback will save Americans money – but climate change is raising household costs
Big oil companies are hesitant to invest in Venezuela due to high risk and cost, focusing instead on low-risk, profitable ventures like US shale oil and Asian petrochemical production. Venezuela’s vast crude reserves are hindered by insufficient refining capacity and lack of access to advanced technology controlled by international firms, making its oil less attractive. Despite political pressure, oil majors prioritize stable, long-term profits over uncertain, high-risk investments. Additionally, oil companies increasingly favor petrochemicals and plastics over green energy, posing challenges for governments seeking cleaner energy solutions. Effective change requires coordinated international policy to shift investments away from fossil fuels.
Venezuela
Why big oil is not interested in Venezuela
Large Language Models (LLMs) offer transformative digital infrastructure for public-sector applications, from general citizen services to sensitive state functions. Governments must strategically decide whether to buy existing LLM services, build domestic capabilities, or adopt hybrid approaches, balancing factors like sovereignty, safety, cost, capacity, cultural fit, and sustainability. National AI strategies often combine commercial, sovereign, and open-source models to address varying sensitivity and risk levels. Building domestic LLMs can involve collaboration across public institutions and national ecosystems. This framework guides policymakers in aligning AI adoption choices with national priorities and societal goals.
Education
Buy versus Build an LLM: A Decision Framework for Governments
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy are the most geographically dispersed ever, spanning multiple regions and over 22,000 km², including Milan and Alpine towns. This dispersed, multinodal model prioritizes sustainability by using mostly existing or temporary venues, reducing new construction and environmental impact, contrasting with past overbuilding seen in previous Games. While this enhances local engagement and legacy potential, it complicates coordination, media coverage, and transport logistics. The reliance on trains aims to cut car use by 20%, but long-distance travel remains a major carbon contributor. Despite reforms, winter Games inherently challenge sustainability due to their impact on fragile natural landscapes.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are the most geographically dispersed ever – here’s why that could be a good thing
Productivity gains from AI are predominantly measured by time saved or labor cost reductions, overlooking quality improvements and innovation. Studies in Britain's public sector and macroeconomic assessments by OECD and IMF focus on task-level efficiency, using time saved as the main metric for AI's contribution. However, this narrow approach misses AI’s transformative potential, as quality and novelty are harder to quantify and typically excluded from productivity estimates. More sophisticated measures, like quality adjustments used by the UK's Office for National Statistics, demonstrate that richer evaluations of AI output are possible and needed to capture its true economic impact.
Education
AI productivity gains should be measured in more than minutes saved
China views the G7 as largely irrelevant and an invitation to join the group is unlikely to alter this perception. While the G7 emerged as a steering committee of the global economy dominated by Western powers, China has consistently refrained from deeper institutional engagement, seeing the G7 as a Western-centric forum where it would lack agenda-setting influence. Instead, China has created parallel institutions like BRICS and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, reflecting its preference for a more pluralistic international order. As the global economic landscape shifts, the G7's influence diminishes, and China sees it more as a values-based caucus rather than a central governance body. Meaningful cooperation is more likely in forums with equitable influence distribution.
China sees the G7 as largely irrelevant – and an invitation to join will not change that
Jobs have improved in some respects, with rising wages partly due to increased minimum wages, shorter working hours, and better pension access. However, job stability and contract quality have deteriorated, leading to more precarious employment. Governments must rethink support systems amid technological advances like AI, which could reduce job quantity and necessitate new work distribution models. Despite concerns, recent minimum wage hikes have not caused significant unemployment increases. The impact of technology on jobs is debated, but retraining infrastructure for workers post-education is inadequate. Poor-quality jobs with low pay, instability, and unpredictable hours are common, particularly affecting low-income workers, highlighting the need to address employment conditions alongside job quantity.
Latin America | Financial services, Education
Are jobs getting better? Reconciling the quantity and quality of jobs in an age of AI
Investing in early warning systems (EWS) in Asia and the Pacific as long-term strategic infrastructure rather than one-off projects can significantly reduce disaster-related economic losses and protect livelihoods. Current EWS are often generic, underfunded, and poorly integrated into critical sectors like agriculture and urban development, limiting their effectiveness. Key improvements include tailoring warnings to sector-specific needs, ensuring sustained financing, enhancing innovation and private sector involvement, and making alerts impact-based, localized, and accessible to vulnerable populations. Embedding EWS in national budgets and development plans, alongside data sharing and community engagement, will improve resilience, economic gains, and save lives amid increasing disaster risks.
Financial services, Health
Investing in Early Warning Systems Can Cut Disaster Losses
Digital transformation is essential for modern governments to deliver better services, make smarter decisions, and enhance collaboration across sectors and borders. Success requires a bold, balanced approach with coherent and trustworthy systems and governance. The 2025 Digital Government Index (DGI) benchmarks governments' foundational efforts toward human-centered digital transformation, while the Open, Useful and Re-usable Data Index (OURdata) assesses national open government data policies. Data collected from 2023 to 2024 informs these indices, with a full analysis forthcoming in the 2026 OECD Digital Government Outlook.
Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mongolia, Qatar | Financial services, Health, Education, ICT
Digital Government Index and Open, Useful and Re-usable Data Index
Rail travel in Europe, once a symbol of progress and modernity, now primarily represents social equity and accessible transport. Despite slower and less convenient journeys compared to air and road travel, trains offer advantages such as comfort, central city access, and minimal check-in times. Europe's fragmented rail systems hinder interoperability, limiting rail’s dominance. However, rail remains the most sustainable transport mode, producing significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than road and air travel. With transport responsible for a quarter of EU emissions, prioritizing rail—especially electrified services—could be crucial for reducing carbon footprints in the future.
Rails Across Europe
Data governance encompasses the processes, people, policies, practices, and technology that manage the data lifecycle to increase trust, value, and equity while minimizing risk and harm. Often used ambiguously to cover data quality, metadata, privacy, compliance, and digital strategy, unclear definitions blur responsibilities and stall decisions. The resource "What Is Data Governance? 30 Questions and Answers" clarifies its meaning, relationships with related concepts like data management and privacy, and highlights evolving components and trends in an AI-driven, data-intensive environment.
Health
Data Governance Without the Jargon: 30 Questions and Answers to Clarify Terms and Trends
Species along east-west coastlines face higher extinction risks than those on north-south shores due to limited pathways for shifting latitude in response to warming climates. Analysis of 540 million years of fossil data reveals that species in regions with convoluted or enclosed coastlines, such as the Mediterranean, struggle to migrate to cooler waters and are more vulnerable during mass extinction events. This geographic constraint—termed the “latitudinal trap”—can increase extinction risk by up to 400% during climate upheavals. While species with strong dispersal abilities may be less affected, overall, coastline orientation plays a critical role in species survival amidst climate change.
Antarctica
Species on east-west coastlines are more likely to go extinct than those on north-south shores – new study
Uncovering unethical practices like forced labor and environmental harm in supply chains often leads consumers to feel guilt, prompting them to change purchasing behavior. This private guilt becomes public pressure when consumers expose these issues via social media, petitions, and boycotts, generating corporate shame. Since brands rely on trust and reputation, public scrutiny threatens their legitimacy, driving them to reform supply chains. Transparency through technology, such as QR codes and digital tagging, can personalize environmental impacts, making sustainability more tangible. Collective consumer voices demanding honesty create pressure for companies to improve, making shame a powerful tool for promoting corporate accountability and sustainable practices beyond slow regulation or superficial marketing.
How shaming unethical brands makes companies improve their behaviour
Self-driving cars excel at routine driving but struggle with rare, high-risk “edge cases” like sharp bends or slippery slopes that cause serious accidents. These scenarios are infrequent but critical, and real-world data collection is limited due to safety risks. Researchers developed a virtual proving ground using generative AI to create realistic, challenging driving scenarios for safer, repetitive training without danger. The system promotes human–machine shared control, smoothly increasing assistance during risky situations to support drivers without abrupt takeovers. Testing showed less experienced drivers benefited most, with safer and smoother outcomes. This adaptive approach enhances vehicle preparedness for extreme conditions, improving safety while maintaining human engagement.
Education
Self-driving cars are poorly prepared for high-risk road situations – here’s how AI can improve them
Europe faces an urgent need to strengthen its security as the US retreats from its traditional role. Leaders across the continent emphasize reclaiming European agency and closer cooperation, including non-EU countries like the UK. European identity is rooted in shared values such as human dignity, democracy, and the rule of law, although debates persist on cultural and religious foundations. Historical tensions between national identities and European unity continue, but recent cooperation initiatives aim to unite diverse nations. Non-EU countries like Ukraine and Georgia actively reinforce European values through their fight against authoritarianism and aggression, highlighting the importance of national autonomy within a broader European identity.
Africa, Latin America
How can Europe meet the challenge posed by the retreat of the US?
China has been a crucial growth market for Scotch whisky, with exports rising dramatically between 2019 and 2023. Though recent sales have declined due to economic uncertainties and trade tensions, a halving of tariffs from 10% to 5% may stimulate recovery. Chinese whisky consumers, predominantly young and educated Gen Z urbanites, value authenticity, heritage, and craftsmanship—qualities strongly associated with Scotch whisky's Scottish origin. Premiumisation trends show consumers shifting toward aged single malts and collectible editions, reflecting changing preferences from conspicuous to considered consumption. Diplomatic engagement, such as the UK Prime Minister's 2024 visit, reinforces consumer trust and the soft power of British heritage brands, essential for sustaining China’s demand amid a maturing luxury market.
France
Heritage, desire and diplomacy: why China still values scotch whisky
The EU faces pressing challenges requiring swift decision-making, prompting calls for institutional reforms such as expanding qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council, improving the European Parliament’s efficiency, and enhancing the Commission’s mandate. However, effective EU governance also demands stronger engagement by national parliaments in EU affairs. Currently, many national parliaments are weakly involved and often perceived as obstacles by their governments, fueling democratic deficits, populism, and mistrust in European governance. Research shows that robust parliamentary scrutiny leads to greater transparency, accountability, and active negotiation positions by governments in the Council. Countries like Finland and Germany exemplify effective national parliamentary involvement, which improves democratic legitimacy and EU decision-making. Thus, reforms must address both Brussels institutions and national parliamentary engagement to strengthen European democracy.
Latin America
EU governance reforms must start in the capitals
Humans have long sought to predict future events, from ancient star interpretations to modern quantitative models guiding finance, insurance, and policy decisions. Forecasting tournaments test general prediction skills on diverse questions, rewarding the most accurate and timely forecasters. Recently, participation has expanded through large prediction markets handling massive trading volumes. Artificial intelligences have begun competing in these tournaments, initially performing poorly but rapidly improving. By 2024, AIs have climbed the ranks, demonstrating potential to surpass human abilities in forecasting complex real-world events.
AI Is Getting Scary Good at Making Predictions
The OECD paper identifies key features commonly cited in definitions of agentic AI and AI agents, analyzing how these characteristics are described across various sources. It maps them to the core elements of the OECD definition of an AI system, highlighting both shared traits and differences. The paper aims to enhance conceptual clarity and inform future research and policy decisions, while also providing data on recent trends in the adoption of agentic AI systems.
The agentic AI landscape and its conceptual foundations

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