The tax burden directly determines how many resources remain in the hands of businesses and how much goes to the state budget. However, it also has some influence on the price level. The size of the tax burden affects the speed of economic development – the more money a business has in possession, the more development and expansion opportunities it has, the more materials it buys, the more money it invests in the purchase of new equipment.
Can financial markets put pressure on a powerful country like France, the world’s eighth-largest economy? It is better not to test it. The UK has found that out several times. An analysis by Institut Montaigne found that promises made before the election by the leftist New Popular Front would increase France’s annual budget spending by €95 billion and the state finance deficit by 3.6 percent of GDP.
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.
The documentary “How Sweden Quit Smoking” by Tomasz Agencki shows the remarkable synthesis of human creativity, innovation and personal responsibility that not only launched Sweden’s success in smoking-related harm reduction, but also points the way for other countries around the world. Sweden’s experience shows that alternative products that allow people to use nicotine in a safer way play a key role in this process.
In July, the Polish Political Science Yearbook published an article “Liberals Among Us”, which examines the structure and determinants of liberal attitudes in Poland. The article is based on research supported by the Economic Freedom Foundation. Why do some people support liberal ideas, while others are their fierce opponents?
The June 2024 EU elections had a tremendous influence on the political landscape throughout Europe. That was especially the case for Polish liberals, since after the Civic Coalition secured new European Parliament seats, the Nowoczesna Party obtained four new MPs in the Polish Sejm, including Aleksandra Kot, the youngest member of the Polish Parliament.
With its Commission Work Programme 2024, adopted on October 17, 2023, the European Commission emphasized its commitment to reduce reporting requirements by 25 per cent. While the Commission promises to cut bureaucracy, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is looming. The CSRD imposes substantial new disclosure and compliance requirements on companies.
The Bologna Declaration marked a milestone in European education. However, despite the ambitious goals of the Bologna Process, numerous issues have arisen. At the end of March 2024, the European Commission introduced a new approach: plans for a European university degree. But how realistic is this proposal?
In June 2024, the European Commission assessed that it was justified to open the excessive deficit procedure, among others, for Poland. In the EC’s assessment, the published report justifies the initiation of the excessive deficit procedure for seven countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Slovakia.
For most of us, it becomes a frequent, increasingly common, everyday experience that causes anxiety, tension, or simply a bad feeling when a politically charged public topic is discussed during a conversation. We can also say that this phenomenon has become an integral part of Hungarian reality. In most cases, this sentiment is triggered by the fact that we find it increasingly difficult to contrast our opinions or narratives with other points of view.
