Slovakia is a small country. It cannot afford to be uneducated. Still, the country has been sinking in the PISA rankings that measure “smartness” by comparing results of educational systems. Many small countries rank ahead of Slovakia.
The Slovak pension, education, and health systems and services should not depend on the government holding power at any given time. Instead, a fundamental political consensus is required. Better than calls from abroad for Slovakia to behave more rationally, the nation itself must come to its senses.
Wage debates are always heated, no matter if it is an employee asking their boss for a rise, or union negotiations. Anyway, in the past year or two, the wage question became one of the leading topics of public debate in Slovakia.
Although the theoretical framework contains several approaches, there is consensus that establishing a division of power by mitigate the closure of the formal political system at national level leads to an open political system.
Bureaucracy is still a burden for both entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens. One of the reasons why the political “fight” has not achieved remarkable success in fighting the red tape, is a missing connection between politics and the everyday life of entrepreneurs.
Many Westerners have seen the break-up of the Eastern Bloc as the long-expected moment of reconnection with the countries of Central Europe. Formerly, in the interwar years, these states formed a crucial part of the order within the region.
In Slovakia, the minimum wage has become a political evergreen of every autumn. However, its growth has been rapidly increasing in recent years. Moreover, the former Slovak prime minister has proposed a new law, which will set the minimum wage at 60% of an average wage of the previous year.
On September 10, 2019, the first international finale of the Economics Olympiad took place in the Czech national bank in Prague. Slovakia was excellently represented by five students from whom two reached the first two medal positions.
INESS organized an interesting public lecture during summer season. On August 6, 2019, Dr. Sean Gabb delivered a speech on Brexit and British strategy in Bratislava. Below you can read the outline of the lecture, accompanied by the video.
During her visit to Hungary, she openly criticized country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his autocratic policies. She also spoke in the defense of the values of the liberal democracy, which is being destroyed in Hungary by Mr. Orban’s regime.
