Are there the first signs of banks‘ restructuring? Will Netherlands lose its AAA rating? Spain won a battle, but the war is not over yet. Sarko once again wants to reach for the treasure buried in ECB, Argentina is nationalizing, Italians are burning paintings, and ECB officials are afraid of inflation. Following Germany, also Ireland will determine the constitutionality of the „fiscal pact“ and the new European Stabilization Mechanism. They were challenged by the Irish MP…

Will a knight from the executive board of ECB buy problematic bonds for his private portfolio as well? Are the „fiscal pact“ and ESM unconstitutional? Do you know that through the European funds you are also contributing for the early retirement of the boss of the company which was bought by Facebook for a billion dollars. It seems that the period of peace brought about by the massive intervention of ECB is coming to an end. The…

On March 2, EU-25 leaders signed the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, commonly called the Fiscal Compact. The Treaty was not signed by the Czech Republic and Great Britain. Lithuania joined the treaty, but it still needs to be ratified by the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas). Not being a member of the eurozone, Lithuania would be able to choose, which particular provisions of the treaty to commit to. However,…

Conference The Eurozone in Crisis: Solutions and Future Prospects April 3, 2012 Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Konstitucijos Ave. 20, Vilnius, Lithuania   The Aim of the Conference The aim of the conference was to discuss the fiscal policy of the European Union countries and the future of euro. Target audience The conference was attended by more than 80 participants: experts of economics, taxation, finance, state officials, liberal politicians, businessmen, media and other interested parties. Course…

Europe promised even more money which it doesn’t have, Spain promises painful cuts, Slovakia higher taxes. Euro Bill keeps increasing, we will pray for its rescue and just 11-year-old Dutch children want to expropriate Greeks.  We will start this week rather gloomily. On Wednesday morning an older man, former pharmacist  Dimitris Christoulas, committed suicide by shooting himself at the busy square in front of the Greek parliament in Athens. He left a letter, in which he…

20 April 2012 is the day when Bulgarians, figuratively speaking, stop working for the government and start working for themselves. This day is called Tax Freedom Day. In 2012 Bulgarians will need to work nearly four months only to pay their taxes and fees to the Government, thus reaching the budget’s revenue target for the year. In Bulgaria, this day traditionally is somewhere in May and its early appearance in the last 3-4 years is…

Polish government began public consultation on the rise of the state pension age in February. It provoked a national debate about how long the Polish will work. There are numerous arguments for and against the reform. Some of them are just and other are demagogic. We should select them and consider issues which are important for us – future pensioners. It is essential because the reform is unavoidable and most members of the European Union…

It is good that an agreement concerning law regulating fiscal responsibilities is reached in our Parliament, involving whole political spectrum. It is great to put down the fire with common effort. It would be even better, however, if we agreed on reasons of this long fire of debt, who and how caused it. And one of the main reasons is the fact that politicans in many countries willingly listened to economic theories, whose implementation in…