innovation

I often hear the phrases \'real price\' or \'justified price\', for example, in the question of ambulances or hospitals. They make my economic hair stand on end. It reminds me of how deeply embedded healthcare is in the price thinking of planned economics. Before 1989 in Slovakia, the whole economy was run on the principle of price. A manager in a company calculated the price of steel, plastic, and man-hours to produce one Škoda 120 car, for example.

Connectivity has undeniably simplified life for people worldwide. However, the remarkable mechanisms behind this connectivity often go unnoticed as we simply enjoy its fruits. When talking to friends and family most do not know how exactly the Internet works. A study conducted in the US confirms this: 80% of respondents cannot explain how we get the Internet. It comes from the Wi-Fi, doesn\'t it?

The list of transformative innovations is virtually endless. But five technologies in particular could profoundly influence our society, our economy, and our fight against climate change in the coming years and decades. Autonomous vehicles will fundamentally change the way we get around. The blockchain will revolutionize business. Rapid charging stations will help electric vehicles achieve a breakthrough.

The global covid crisis has hit cities in Germany, Europe, and all around the world. A core characteristic of cities is the crowds of people you see in their centers. Cities are the place where people meet, interact, and exchange ideas.

The final instalment of Daniel Craig’s James Bond is finally in the cinemas but I had no high hopes for it given the plot-hole riddled previous movies. No Time to Die added to the pile of rubbish that was Spectre. Liberals, though, can learn from its mistakes. Beware, spoilers galore!

The startup ecosystem and its impact on Germany´s innovative culture and its economic success are important research and policy areas. FNF and the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups e.V. collaborated to create the Migrant Founders Monitor 2021, which looks at the role of migrant founders in the German ecosystem.

After many years, the last year’s organization of the traditional international conference Free Market Roadshow, which has been organized by INESS in cooperation with AEC was cancelled due to the pandemic. This year, it was brought back - into the online space - and dedicated to the topic which has been perhaps the most pertinent for the last year and for many years to come: Pandemic Lessons.

It is the summer of the second year of the COVID-19 panemic, and the European Union has generously opened its coffers to spend on post-pandemic recovery. Various governments of the EU are scrambling to put forward their best ideas to be funded by the new support scheme.

The European Commission has launched an initiative on the evaluation and revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation with an overall aim to ensure a future-proof and crisis-resistant regulatory system.

With the below 101 groups from 47 countries, we celebrate World Intellectual Property Day with WIPO and the creativity, inventiveness, and entrepreneurial spirit protected by intellectual property rights around the world.