New Social Contract
In this report, the McKinsey Global Institute takes an in-depth look at the changes in 22 advanced economies in Asia, Europe, and North America, during the first two decades of the 21st century. Its findings points to the need of an evolution in the “social contract”.
“We are living in a new era of rising discontent, mistrust of institutions, and an economy that does not work well for everyone. This remains true despite significant progress in some economic indicators, including employment rates and GDP growth, along with technological advancements and improvements in education and longevity”.
The traditional economic variables need to be complemented by other indicators with a broader scope: “The relatively positive perspective on the state of the economy, based on GDP and job growth indicators, needs to be complemented with a fuller assessment of the economic outcomes for individuals as workers, consumers, and savers/pensioners”.
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Economist José Carlos Díez notes that Spain’s banking sector has an excess of deposits and sufficient liquidity to meet the credit demand of companies and households, and does so at the lowest interest rates in Europe, according to the ECB.
According to CEPS, regulatory and supervisory complexity acts as a structural constraint on integration, investment and market depth, with costs that weigh most heavily on smaller institutions, new entrants and cross-border business models.
According to the ECB, an efficient, secure and integrated payment system would strengthen the international role of the euro and deliver benefits such as lower financing costs, reduced exposure to exchange rate fluctuations and greater protection against sanctions.
According to the IEA one key debate in the EU on financial regulation simplification is whether to explicitly include competitiveness, efficiency or contribution to growth as objectives of the regulatory agencies, following the UK example.
According to IE University’s Center for the Governance of Change, deeper and more integrated financial markets would strengthen the euro’s global role. This requires, among other elements, resilient and interoperable payment systems and completing the banking union.
Partnerships between banks and private credit: The winners will be those that combine bank underwriting discipline, distribution, and customer access with private capital’s appetite for long-dated, illiquid risk, according to Oliver Wyman.
Lucrezia Reichlin (CEPR): A CBDC is not a prerequisite for monetary sovereignty. Confusing money with payments can risk misdiagnosing the problem and misaligning economic policy efforts.
According to the World Economic Forum´s Global Risk Report 2026, geoeconomic confrontation, mis- and disinformation and societal polarization make up the top three short-term risks, while environmental risks dominate in the long term.
According to the World Economic Forum, over the last few years AI has moved from experimentation to workflow integration, promising systemic gains in productivity while also raising critical questions around economic inclusion, values, trust and resilience.
According to AFME, a clearer, more coherent, and proportionate regulatory environment, without unnecessary layers and focuses on growth and competitiveness, is keyl to increase investor confidence, unlock private capital and deepen European capital markets
According to the Center for the Governance of Change at IE University, Europeans support technological progress if it reinforces security, inclusion, and social welfare; but resist it when change feels imposed, opaque, or misaligned with their values.
According to a recent report released by CEPS, European financial regulators should adopt competitiveness as a formal secondary objective, following the precedent established by the UK's Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.