July 3 marked an important stage in implementing the EU’s new big tech regulations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission started thresholds checks for large internet platforms that are considered to have a strong economic position and a large user base to impact the internal market.
Currently, Europe is focusing on other issues, particularly environmental protection and the fight against climate change. To this end, a broad investment strategy has been developed, which is detailed in the Green Deal and other related plans. A key component of these strategies is the energy sector, where the European Union has set ambitious targets for transitioning away from coal-fired energy sources and promoting the use of renewable sources.
In 2022, public expenditure per capita amounted to almost 36,000 PLN, and per one working person – 79,381 PLN. All public spending is financed either by taxes we pay or by government-issued debt (which means higher taxes in the future). Many people, demanding the implementation of further social programs by the state, do not realize that it is associated with higher taxation of the people (now or in the future).
The International Monetary Fund’s mission carried out an assessment in Warsaw on 14-24 March under Art. IV of the of the IMF Articles of Agreement. The mission pointed to the most important problems of the Polish economy and presented related recommendations. The Fund’s delegation pointed out that the most important challenge is to bring inflation down to the target (which upper band of deviations is 3.5%). Therefore, it becomes necessary to tighten fiscal policy this year.
Mateusz Morawiecki, during the recent press conference “Stable public finances in unstable times”, bragged that under the rule of PiS’ government “the [public] debt in relation to GDP will fall” and it will be the case “despite gigantic expenses during the pandemic, despite huge expenses on the anti-inflation shield.” He stressed that “there are no catches here, there are no special operations.”
The ongoing election campaign has become an opportunity for political parties to present populist solutions to problems that are not always real. One theme are the seemingly high mortgage rates. In reality, however, rates are much lower than the current and projected increase in prices and wages, which means that the burden on debtors would decrease even if they would not pay their instalments and the interest would increase their debt.
We are slowly but surely approaching the mark of a year and a half since Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During this time the necessity to track direct and indirect damage caused by it has become both a priority and an enormous challenge for numerous Ukrainian and international organizations. One thing is already clear – we will be doing the math long after the war is over.
You might be familiar with a popular phrase often used jokingly «The patient is more dead than alive». However, when used as an economic diagnosis for Ukraine, it is no laughing matter. Today’s destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) is making an already very tough situation a lot worse for a number of reasons.
In 2015, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party won the elections, promising a significant new social support program. In March 2016, with a majority in the parliament, PiS introduced the “Family 500+” program, which provided an additional payment of PLN 500 per child per month. Initially, the program was for a second and subsequent child in a family, but later it was extended to include the first child as well.
A study by the Pestel Institute and the Construction Research Institute ARGE caused a stir at the beginning of the year. According to calculations, a housing shortage of over 700,000 units could occur in Germany during this year. This would be the largest housing deficit in over twenty years.
