LFMI

As usual, the wording of this political declaration is vague and the purpose is unclear. Will it bring more flexibility to the EU economy and labor markets or will it make them more rigid? The whole text is permeated with the spirit of having your cake and eating it at the same time.

Unified tax rules can hardly contribute to trade liberalisation. A diversity of tax systems is not a roadblock for free trade. Quite the opposite, differences in tax systems might serve as a stimulus to trade. Taxes constitute a significant share of costs and a large share of the price of factors of production, labour in particular.

It is estimated that even though the sharing-economy now contributes only EUR 28 billion to the EU economy per year it can grow to up to EUR 572 billion per year. In order to use as much potential as possible, both the EU and its Member States have to implement a regulatory model that is flexible and applicable to different business models.

The principle of free movement of capital, goods, people and services comprises the main pillar of the European Economic Area. Excessive regulation, however, prevents EU Member States from reaching its full potential. Such untapped potential is particularly evident in the free movement of financial services.

Although many agree that tax competition is a healthy and natural economic process that drives economies, the EC now sees tax harmonization as an essential factor for the functioning of the single market. Together with the CCCTB initiative, the ATA Directive could be seen as a first step toward this harmonisation.

International trade has always been a contentious issue. Even those who agree that it is beneficial for all countries involved sometimes succumb to the fallacy that trade is a good thing only if it occurs between countries that have a similar level of economic development.

New York, November 11, 2016 – the Lithuanian Free Market Institute’s textbook Economics in 31 Hours receives a prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award for giving the young generation of Lithuania a chance to learn how property rights, free exchange, profit and competition shape decisions and actions in our everyday lives.

The Lithuanian Free Market Institute has released the sixth edition of the Lithuanian Municipal Performance Index (MPI). This year the capital city of Vilnius has firmly maintained the top ranking, followed by Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Kaunas city municipalities. The Kaunas District Municipality has outperformed other 53 regional administrations.

Posting of workers plays an essential role in the internal market of the European Union. Drawing on the fundamental values of the free movement of persons and the free movement of services, it allows workers from one EU member state to work and carry out services in another member state on a temporary basis.

The first sharing economy businesses appeared in Lithuania only a couple of years ago. Therefore, there is not enough economic data to evaluate how significant it has been to the Lithuanian economy. The sectors that the sharing economy business models emerge in are rather different and completely separated.