Sitemap | Contact | Register | Login Search MGI Go

MGI's independent investigations combine McKinsey's microeconomic understanding of companies and industries with the rigor of leading macroeconomic thinking to derive perspectives on the global forces shaping business, government, and society.

Featured Publications

Latest Publications

How to compete and grow: A sector guide to policy Drawing on industry case studies from around the world, MGI analyzes policies and regulations that have succeeded and those that have failed in fostering economic growth and competitiveness at the sector level. What emerges are some surprising findings that run counter to the way many policy makers are thinking about the task at hand. Read the full report

The Internet of Things More objects are becoming embedded with sensors and gaining the ability to communicate. The resulting new information networks promise to create new business models, improve business processes, and reduce costs and risks. Read article and listen to the podcast on the McKinsey Quarterly site

Debt and deleveraging: The global credit bubble and its economic consequences The recent bursting of the great global credit bubble has left a large burden of debt weighing on many households, businesses, and governments, as well as on the broader prospects for economic recovery in countries around the world. Leverage levels are still very high in ten sectors of five major economies. If history is a guide, one would expect many years of debt reduction in these sectors, which would exert a significant drag on GDP growth. Read more Listen to the podcast

An exorbitant privilege? Implications of reserve currencies for competitiveness Observers assume that the United States enjoys an "exorbitant privilege" because the dollar is the global reserve currency. But MGI finds that in 2007/8, the United States gained a net benefit of just $40 billion to $70 billion—0.3 to 0.5 percent of US GDP. In the "crisis year" to June 2009, the benefit fell to between -$5 billion and $25 billion. Given this, could the United States prioritize domestic growth and jobs over its global responsibilities, sparking greater currency volatility that threatens competitiveness? Read the discussion paper Read a series of essays and join the debate on the future of the dollar on What Matters

Global capital markets: Entering a new era World financial assets fell by $16 trillion to $178 trillion in 2008, marking the largest setback on record and a break in the three-decade-long expansion of global capital markets. Looking ahead, mature financial markets may be headed for slower growth, while emerging markets will likely account for an increasing share of global asset growth. Read more Launch this report (PDF - 3.2 MB) View slideshow

How Russia could be more productive Russia's way out of the economic slowdown is the more effective use of the country's resources-not just more resources. Read more and view photo essay on the McKinsey Quarterly site

If you've got it, spend it: Unleashing the Chinese consumer By pursuing a more aggressive program of comprehensive reform, China's leaders could raise private consumption above 50 percent of GDP by 2025, bringing the consumption rate in line with other Asian countries and vaulting China's economy into a new phase. A more consumer-centric economy would generate more jobs, allocate capital and resources more efficiently, spread the benefits of growth more equitably, and also enrich the global economy with $1.9 trillion a year in net new consumption. Read more Launch this report (PDF - 839 KB)

The new power brokers: How oil, Asia, hedge funds, and private equity are faring in the financial crisis The power brokers collective performance in the financial crisis, though better than the sharp declines in wealth of most institutional investors, masks an important shift: Asian sovereign and petrodollar investors emerged as more influential than ever, while hedge funds and private equity saw their previously rapid growth interrupted. Read more Launch this report (PDF - 1.28 MB) View slideshow

Changing the fortunes of America's workforce: A human capital challenge Global economic integration and technological advances have combined to produce permanent changes in the skill levels required to flourish in the U.S. labor market. Seventy-one percent of U.S. workers are in jobs for which there has been a decrease in demand from employers, an increase in supply of eligible workers, or both, resulting in less-than-average income growth. Read more

Why energy demand will rebound Demand for energy will return and oil prices will spike again unless policy makers can find ways to improve the balance between energy supply and demand. Read more on the McKinsey Quarterly site