Articles

When facing illiberal regimes, a stream of victories by populists and a seemingly unstoppable retreat of liberal democracy, should we also simply adept to the new reality and “make our peace”? I would argue that this is the strategy many people have been pursuing in Hungary.

May 23, 2018 – the symbolic Tax Freedom Day, marking the day when an average taxpayer has paid all the dues to the government and begins to work for himself, falls in Lithuania. This year the Tax Freedom Day comes on the same day as in the last year, according to the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI).

Three months after Civil Development Forum (FOR) inquired the Minister of Justice about the judges who supported the candidates for the new National Council of the Judiciary (NCJ), we have received answers with mostly... blank pages.

Do not be fooled by the vast yellow fields of rapeseed in Slovakia. The agricultural sector is a zombie, living on subsidies instead of fresh brains. There are a few exceptions (like the successful tomato growers), but the overall numbers are harsh.

On April 19, 2018, the Free Market Road Show visited Warsaw. This year the event took place at SWPS University. The conference began with introductory remarks by Piotr Voelkel (SWPS University), Agata Stremecka (FOR), and Barbara Kolm (Austrian Economics Center).

The two potential coalition parties (the ANO movement and the Social Democrats) have finally reached the consensus on how the country should look like under their second term of governance. But the fate of the coalition will be decided similarly as in Germany – by social democrats\' internal referendum.

On April 27, 2018, Civil Development Forum (FOR) presented The Bill for Government Services in 2017, which shows the structure of Poland’s government expenditures. Like every year, the current seventh edition of the campaign took place just before the tax filing deadline.

The Visio institute has just published the second issue of The Visio Journal, which offers several papers analyzing the degree to which the public policies and political institutions of former socialist economies have been supportive of economic freedom following the collapse of communism.

Viktor Orbán’s right-wing populist Fidesz party won a third consecutive term in office with a two-thirds majority in the Hungarian parliamentary election of April 2018. Orbán is known for building an “illiberal state”, which he officially announced in the summer of 2014.

Dancing gorillas, yodeling Lithuanians on a canon, gypsy music combined with hip-hop – these are just a few productions from the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. For those who don’t follow every single aspect of the contest, the political significance of the event might still be rather interesting.