The Slovak Spectator presents the latest data concerning unemployment rate published by the Statistics Office. The unemployment rate in February 2012 reached13.76%, which means a monthly growth of 0.07%. In a year unemployment rate increased by 0.6%. The increase was observed in 6 out of 8 regions (unemployment rate decreased only in Trenčín and Bratislava regions). More information can be found here.
This week about how FED doesn’t want to leave alone the “Print” button and what you can go to jail in Argentina for. In Europe, we will have a look at the biggest default in the history, hope that German Luftwaffe won’t take off, we mention Iron Lady and make fun of the new title Kill Bill Saving EU. Only a few days of falling stock markets after the press conference, when the governor of…
This week about Big Berta, Stiglitz’ duel with bad speculators, why Greece needs planning commissioners and about open hunting season for bad news messengers in the European Parliament. The second round of three-year tender loans of the European Central Bank (according to ECB President Mario Draghi so-called “Big Bertha”) flooded the system with 529.5 bln of future euro. 800 banks took 3-year loans with interest rates 1% (it was 523 bln. during the first round…
About good news from Iceland, the next act of Greek drama, Spanish ghost city, Presidential poetry and tough love in Europe. We have good news for you. Iceland is not junk anymore. Iceland is a country whose credit rating, unlike in the rest of Europe, started to rise. Why is it important? Iceland has done what European insolvent countries and monetary union still resists doing. After the crisis, which mainstream economists and governors didn‘t see coming,…
INESS, Bratislava 7.3.2012 We added to our The State Waste database the whole proceeded year 2011. Database now consists of 824 documented cases of waste, clientelism and lawsuits brought up by the printed media since the year 2007. The total sum of revealed inefficient use of public funds in the year 2011 in the categories Waste and Lawsuits reached EUR 553.5 mil. It is not only the waste during this period of time but also…
As The Budapest Times writes the EU presented Hungary with ultimatum: either the coutry will prove to the EU that it has its budget under control until 22 June or it will lose a big share of development funds for 2013. In order to meet the EU deficit target (below 3% of GDP) further cuts on spending are necessary. They will most probably affect mainly subsidies for transport and medicines. More about financial situation of…
As The Lithuania Tribune writes Lithuanian GDP increased more than expected in the last quarter of 2011. When it comes to investment data the growth reached 10% and growth of the export, even though slowed down, still exceeds growth of import. At the beginning of the year income of the central government exceeded its expenses. Additionally, in January there was growth of over 16% in the retail sector. Newspaper points out “decreasing unemployment, lower inflation…
On March 9, 2012 Simeon Djankov, Bulgarian Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister announced that Bulgaria will repay its foreign debt using three sources of income. According to Sofia News Agency novinite.com these sources include “privatization of unnecessary State assets, short-term government securities, and mid-term 5 or 7-year Euro bonds in equal shares“. The proposal caused concerns expressed by Martin Dimitrov, member of the right-wing Blue Coalition. More about government’s proposal here.
The interesting headline written above is not just a key topic of almost all today’s discussions about economics and economic policy but also the
Slovak think tank INESS, the Institute of Economic and Social Studies, calculated the total potential risk exposure related to Eurozone rescue mechanisms on per capita basis. It is published on the institute”s new project website eurokriza.sk (“eurocrisis”). The Euro Bill summarizes total liabilities, guarantees and risk exposure created by bond purchasing programs, which were created as a part of the Euro debt crisis solution efforts. The total maximal risk exposure of each Slovak citizen is…
