Corporate tax revenues have been falling across Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries since the global economic crisis, putting greater pressure on individual taxpayers to ensure that governments meet financing requirements, according to new data on the 34-mainly developed countries that was issued Thursday. France has a bizarre system where an effective corporate rate (amount of tax provided for in accounts as a ratio of taxable net income) of 8 to 9% applies to small firms while the rate for other firms declines to the same range for very big firms.

The Euro Area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.7% in October 2015, down from 10.8% in September 2015, and from 11.5% in October 2014. This is the lowest rate recorded in the Euro Area since January 2012. The EU28 unemployment rate was 9.3% in October 2015, stable compared to September 2015, and down from 10.1% in October 2014. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since September 2009. The lowest country rate was Germany at 4.5% and the highest was Greece at 24.6%.

George Osborne, the UK chancellor, on Wednesday presented the Autumn Statement on the government's fiscal plans to the House of Commons and he had been delivered two unexpected gifts to take the sting from what would typically have been dubbed a "humiliating climbdown" or "U-turn" by the Opposition and political commentators: 1) The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast before any changes, an unexpected cumulative reduction in net borrowing of £27bn up to 2020-21 compared with summer forecasts, due to a jump in tax receipts 2) John McDonnell, the Labour shadow chancellor, quoted from Mao Zedong's Little Red Book — a popular 1960s appendage of well-off student revolutionaries in the West at a time when the Chinese Communist leader was engaged in a Cultural Revolution that brought chaos to the country. McDonnell flung his copy of Mao's quotations across the Table of the House, literally handing Osborne an opportunity to make a joke at his expense.

On Sunday (22 Nov) Angela Merkel will be chancellor of Germany for ten years and until this year her governing style has been viewed as risk averse but for the first time, her bold move in early September to open Germany's borders to war refugees, is seen as a risk that could result in her losing power.

Right-wing political extremists in Europe and the US are targeting Syrian war refugees following last Friday's terrorists attacks in Paris.  "We must not make the mistake of equating refugees with terrorists," Ursula Von der Leyen, German defence minister, told the Monday edition of the German newspaper "Passauer Neue Presse," according to Deutsche Welle, the German external broadcaster.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to increase the scale of its bond-buying programme after disappointing growth data for the Euro Area were published on Friday. Following strong US jobs data in October, the Federal Reserve may raise the key US federal funds rate for the first time since 2006, at its policy meeting on 15-16 Dec while Mario Draghi, ECB president, has given strong hints that the governing council may expand its €60bn a month asset-purchase program in December and also extend the programme beyond its intended run through September 2016.

Last week the head of the British Chambers of Commerce said that "The UK has too few exporting companies" but even at official level there is a wide gulf in the estimates of the number of British exporting firms. In an analysis of European economies, we have determined that the export superstars are Austria, Denmark and Germany.

German exports recovered in September, but there may be squalls ahead in the wake of the Volkswagen diesel scandal. Compared with August 2015, exports increased by a calendar and seasonally adjusted 2.6%, and imports by 3.6% — in August exports plunged 5.2% while imports dipped 3.2%.

Angela Merkel, German chancellor, on Thursday rejected the proposal of a junior coalition partner to build transit zones on Germany's borders for processing refugees. Also on Thursday the European Commission said that the economic impact of the arrival of large numbers of asylum seekers in the EU will overall have a small impact on growth "but it can be more sizeable in some member states" such as Germany.

Growth decelerated in several European countries before the launch of the euro in 1999; some countries had persistent problems with their public finances and the single currency was a continuation rather than a structural break in trade patterns with fixed rates likely to result in widening trade imbalances.