Slovakia

To know how to fight for freedom is important. But it is also important to know how to preserve this freedom. And a look into our recent past unveils that we lost it right in the years 1948 and 1968, although in the second case, we lost more or less only the hope for freedom. And unfortunately, we may lose it again.

The Slovak Ministry of Finance sent the entrepreneurs a special package this week. It contains as many as seven (!) new tax law amendments. The extraordinary content of the tax package is the reason for red alert among entrepreneurs. This attitude is the result of previous negative experiences.

With laughter through tears it can be said that so-called mailbox companies have a paradise here in Slovakia. But when companies are to have mailboxes, it’s considered a problem. This issue has a history several years long, which culminates now and has three levels.

INESS members took to the streets with a physical version of the annual bureaucracy load of a new company (652 pages of forms) and polled pedestrians about their view on red tape, giving red apples to the pessimists and green ones to the more positive oriented folks.

Since personal interest is a mandatory attribute of a human life, i.e. humans a priori aim to meet their needs and follow their passions, it is unbefitting to assume that public interest exists away from the nature of human beings, for someone and in order to achieve something.

On July, 28, 2016, INESS organized in cooperation with EdChoice the 7th annual event commemorating Milton Friedman – The Friedman Legacy Day. This year, more than 100 similar events in various countries around the globe were held, the aim of which was to remember the intellectual legacy of one of the greatest economist of the century.

If the needs of economy are long ignored, the ability to create resources necessary for maintaining or even improving our standards of living will be lost. The politicians – whether the ones in Slovakia, in foreign countries or in institutions of EU – should finally acknowledge several basic priorities vital for business.

The Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia has already submitted a document to the Minister of Economy which includes 40 bureaucratic absurdities that were previously identified by both entrepreneurs and the lay public under the patronage of the Bureaucratic Nonsense of the Year project.

I can already see the ironic grins, since I suggest creating new bureaucracy to fight bureaucracy. By applying this suggestion, however, no new administration would be created. The existing one would be reorganized so there would be a clearly assigned authority and responsibility to accomplish this important priority.

Centre for Economic and Market Analyses recently published a study dealing with circular economy. The text “The Efficiency of the Waste Sorting System in the Czech Republic – International comparison” deals with collective system of extended producers’ responsibility for packaging waste.