Free Market Foundation

Magic had influenced humankind since time immemorial until the age of reason started to disenchant the world. Unfortunately, magical practices still affect our lives. Thanks to the warped politics in some corners of the modern world, such as some far-right movements and the Kremlin under Vladimir Putin, magic is still leaving a sorry and unwelcome footprint on politics today.

Can financial markets put pressure on a powerful country like France, the world\'s eighth-largest economy? It is better not to test it. The UK has found that out several times. An analysis by Institut Montaigne found that promises made before the election by the leftist New Popular Front would increase France\'s annual budget spending by €95 billion and the state finance deficit by 3.6 percent of GDP.

Regulations are suffocating our freedoms, interfering with our lives, livelihoods, and comforts. Freedoms should be the priority of decision makers, but even the most basic freedoms such as those of trade and movement, vitally important principles in the EU, were set aside on the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farming is becoming a hot topic in the most powerful rooms in Brussels. But unlike those working in agriculture, EU politicians are oblivious to temperature change. The complexities of agriculture merit more attention from European politicians than what it currently gets.

On June 9, Hungary held the elections for the European Parliament along with its local elections to choose mayors and councilors. The elections saw a record turnout of 58.1 %, but the most interesting election, the Budapest mayoral election with a turnout of 60.51%, resulted in a very high number of spoiled ballots, at 2.98%.

Israel\'s human rights record is not untarnished, a fact which is amplified in the recent war in Gaza. It is right that Israel should be held accountable for its actions. However, this certainly does not mean that Israel does not have the right to defend itself against Hamas and other Iranian proxies, even if war measures are necessary. Nor should it relativize the horrors committed by the oppressive terrorists who attacked the civilians of a democratic country.

Hungary has been fined an unprecedentedly large amount for the severe violation of EU law over the rights of asylum seekers. However, this is not about Hungary\'s stance against the oppressive EU as the Hungarian governing party Fidesz wants to depict but about the party coming at odds with its ever-swaying populist positions. Yet the Hungarian voters, rather than EU activists, should punish the Hungarian government.

A recent scandal in Hungary led to the resignation of the President. The fiasco revealed what was already known by many: that the President, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a figurehead used by the government to ratify bills.

The benefits of cash over card payments are that the government has less control over your finances. There is no chance of data mining.

Liberals in Europe should learn from Trump and Beeblebrox how to run campaigns, to be more out of the box, to dare to disrupt, and promise a change in “the system.”