economic policy

Next year, participants in Lithuania’s second-pillar funded pension system will face a personal financial referendum: to stay and save, to withdraw and leave, to transfer savings to the third pillar of the pension system, or to invest independently. Estonia tried the same approach in 2021, and economists at its central bank assessed the consequences. Estonia’s experience is highly relevant for Lithuania – similar outcomes are plausible here as well. 

Tomio Okamura, the Czech Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, made a New Year\'s speech which is a prime example of economic populism that pretends to be \"common sense\" but is actually based on systematic simplification, confusion of terms, and false dilemmas. Underneath the appealing language of optimism and concern for \"ordinary people\" lies a set of claims that deny known facts, ignore the government\'s policy statement, and distort reality.

Competitiveness is a strange beast—always measured against outsiders, yet forged internally. In her annual address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reminded us of a hard truth, one that “after Draghi and Trump” can no longer be ignored: competitiveness is not a game; it is a matter of survival.

Imagine two economists walking into a grocery store whose shelves are completely empty. One says: \"The problem is production — not enough goods are being created.\" The other one replies: \"No, the problem is demand — people aren’t spending, they’re saving. The state must stimulate consumption.\" This dispute still shapes how governments respond to crises, how they spend money, and how modern macroeconomic policy is justified.

Many governments are interfering more and more deeply in economic processes. Protectionism is on the rise in the world. The result could be a stagnant global economy. Tadeusz Syryjczyk, Minister of Industry in Tadeusz Mazowiecki\'s government in Poland, once stated that the best industrial policy is no industrial policy.

Imagine the owner of a candy store, whose window is broken by boys playing football. People run around the scene of the accident, pitty the owner and blame and rebuke the naughty. Nevertheless, there are some people among the crowd who say that a broken window also has its bright economic side. A broken window means work for the window maker. For the money he earns he can now buy bread, for example. That\'s how the baker has a job.

Examples of senseless Slovak economic policy that combines financial and bureaucratic blows always aimed at a different sector of the economy are thick on the ground. One of the most memorable ones is the imposed levy on singular shops and chains, also known as “food tax”.

Polish economic policy should aim to increase the country’s resilience and strengthen economic foundations. The safety margin, in the form of ensuring the appropriate fiscal space, must be maintained not only because of tensions in the world economy, but also in terms ofpossibly less sharp, cyclical slowdown.