Reflecting and reporting on the impact of the new coronavirus on the ages-old obsessive (in)equality academia, media and others are swinging between claims that SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 (the pathogen / the disease) is either a blindfolded leveler or, on the contrary, a balance destroyer.
The fight against speculation is a traditional topic for politicians, which became especially popular during the state of emergency declared on March 13, 2020. These are all topics that affect many spheres of our lives and where human action seeks a solution but politicians have put up unnecessary barriers.
The European Commission proposes an extension of price reporting for most agricultural products in all its variety for all economic actors of the value chain on weekly and monthly bases. According to the EC, this measure will address a lack of transparency and information asymmetry in the food supply chain.
There are clear reasons why Silicon Valley or Shenzhen are synonymous with high technologies – they are the place where entrepreneurs and businesses in this field have created their ecosystem, and accordingly attract those who want to break into the industry.
The liberalization of the Bulgarian power market has been characterized by constant external (the European Commission) and internal (private stakeholders) pressure. Regardless, the government has shown prevailing reluctance to take any serious actions.
Fear that people will not buy new flats because they will have higher interest rates. If the people do not invest more, the prices of these assets will stagnate or fall. Whoever buys in times of a loose monetary policy, wins. When screws begin to tighten, the winner is the one who sells first.
I am not questioning the values of politicians. If they believe that the means of production should belong to the state, it is their right to do so. However, we are living in an independent Lithuania and so members of the parliament must at least be objective and impartial.
France is facing yet another challenge. The European Commission clearly stated that a restrictive regulatory approach that they have implemented must be avoided. A difficult road is ahead for the French government as it will have to admit that the country’s licensing practices are laughably outdated and have to be removed.
There are those who view markets as functional (albeit imperfect) tools for economic decisions and those who think markets always fail at this task. Add to that the intricacies of the energy sector, and the discussion about markets in the energy sector becomes an argument between economists and engineers written down by lawyers.
In the most recent ranking of the World Economic forum, which compares the competitiveness of 140 countries around the world, Slovakia ranked 67th. Since we ranked 8 places higher the year before, the media presented this as positive news.
