The Future of Russia: Divergent Scenarios for 2020-50
Forecasts concerning the future of Russia are widely divergent which is alarming and should receive our immediate attention. On one hand, there are forecasts
EU
Good Sleep Helps Fighting the Crisis – Fiat Euro! 29/2012
In our today’s trips around the Mediterranean we can watch how Greeks try to sell, Spaniards try to borrow and Italians try to stay inconspicuous. We will also have
When the EU Food Policy Fails
During the recent years the EU has been trying, via regulations of the EU Commission, to prevent people from consuming harmful food. The EU Commission thus produces legislation regulating food market and many of them, such as extensive law regulating gummy bears or the legislation stating “proper” shape of cucumber are nowadays taken by citizens more as jokes, though some of them still exist. While regulating, it imposes huge costs on firms, although those who…
Waiting for ESM – Fiat Euro! 28/2012
Is destabilization of the EU really the only alternative? German constitutional court takes its time. The state won’t allow any competition in manipulating interest rates. Many Spaniards have put all the eggs in one basket, which is currently hitting the ground. When Silvio is talking, rating agencies are listening. New chairman of the Council for Budget Responsibility and former governor of the National Bank of Slovakia Ivan Šramko claims that there is no alternative for…
Public Statistics Must Be Available to the Public
The National Statistical Office of Poland (GUS) is financed by tax-payers money and it should extend the range of publicly available statistical data:
Liberalization of the Postal Sector in the EU and Its Effects on Bulgaria
On July 3, the Institute for Мarket Еconomics (IME) presented its analysis on the condition of “Bulgarian Posts” in the context of liberalization of postal services in the EU and Bulgaria. The round table took place at the “Sofia” hall of Grand Hotel “Sofia”. Amongst the participants there were representatives of: The Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism (MEET); Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications (MTITC); “Bulgarian Posts”; the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) and…
Slovakia Will Guarantee Loans for Slovenia – Why Not?! – Fiat Euro! 26/2012
Who wants to be Minister of Finance of Greece should report to the director. Everyone in ECB was following football, players used as a collateral were playing. Will ESM turn into European zombie banks hedge fund? Will ESM run out of resources even before it is set up? Troika still hasn’t gone to Greece to assess the situation there. Local leaders are affected by health problems – both Prime Minister and Minister of Finance were…
The Euro: A Community of Shared Destiny?
In March 2010, when the Greek debt crisis was heating up, then-ECB president Jean Claude Trichet declared to the EU parliament that the “monetary Union in Europe is far more than a monetary arrangement. It is a union of shared destiny”. Less than two months later the ECB reversed its refusal to monetize debt and openly started buying government bonds in violation of its own charta. Germany also gave up its reservations about bailing out…
We Need Real Choices: Interview with Jiří Schneider
Two years ago, here in Wrocław [at Wrocław Global Forum], you called United States and Europe “G2 of the world” and today you referred to them as “catamaran on stormy waters”, so I was wondering if you think that we can observe serious, permanent shift of power in contemporary world or just this storm that is going to pass? Well, I hope it’s a storm that is going to pass and I hope that we…
Mr. Euro-Bond
Will Germany open its arms to the call from new French leader Francois Hollande for growth supporting measures instead of pure austerity imposed by the Sarkozy-Merkel duo? That was the key question at the European Union summit held in Brussels last week. Taking a decisive step in ramping up the European effort for containing for the ongoing debt crisis could not be expected. The issue of European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the €700 billion rescue fund…
