On the eve of Taxpayers’ Day, the largest taxpayers were honored at a ceremony held at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania. The event, organized by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) in partnership with the law firm TGS Baltic, also saw the introduction of the Taxpayers’ Rights Charter, which aims to foster a relationship of trust and respect between taxpayers and government institutions.
Last October, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it was concluding the research phase of the Digital Europroject and moving on to its implementation. However, the questions of what impact the introduction of central bank digital currency (CBDC) will have on the financial market and whether it will benefit consumers still need to be answered.
It is not hard to see why Universal Basic Income (UBI) is such a popular idea. It is an idea to pay everyone a fixed amount of money regularly, with no strings attached. According to its proponents, UBI would eradicate poverty, save people from burnout at work, stimulate new businesses, and unleash people’s creative powers. Ultimately, it would save the planet from destruction – less work means less production and less production means less pollution.
Paris will host one of the most important sporting events this year – the Summer Olympic Games. And the race is already on, with nearly half of all voters worldwide expected to go to the ballot box this year. Nine parliamentary elections will occur or already have occurred in European countries alone, with thousands of candidates competing for 720 seats in the European Parliament.
Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) presented “The Election Book. Mandate for Leadership”. The publication discusses the problems of state governance and the economy and provides recommendations for a breakthrough. As the patron of the event, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, underscored the unique value of the “The Election Book. Mandate for Leadership” for political parties.
On May 9, the Money Museum of the Bank of Lithuania hosted the awards ceremony for the National Economics Quiz winners. This event honored the teachers who attracted the most students and active teams. Organized by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) in collaboration with the Bank of Lithuania and Lithuanian National Radio and Television, the event aims to promote financial and economic literacy among the general public.
A global minimum tax model will reduce tax competition and put companies in a race for public subsidies. The idea of a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% for multinational groups, floating around in international platforms since 2013, has been implemented from the beginning of this year. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development agreed on a new tax regime in 2021, followed a year later by the European Commission.
March 7, 2024, marks a significant date for the European Union and, potentially, the global digital landscape. A completely new set of rules for controlling competition will be fully applied. The Digital Market Act (DMA) reaches its final implementation milestone, aiming to create “fair digital markets” within the EU by curbing the influence of major tech companies.
Just as the protagonist of Shakespeare’s drama gains the courage to take on justice in the course of the play, too must human agency and responsibility win in each of our inner struggles. This is the only way to ensure the sustainability of the pension system by reducing upward pressure on state benefits and allowing people themselves to recover a larger share of their incomes at a time when there will be no active sources of income at all.
The idea of a 4-day working week has already captured minds in many places around Europe. Like UBI, it is a devilishly sweet temptation that is almost impossible to resist.
