LFMI

The work and ideas of the Polish astronomer, mathematician, and economist Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) are worth studying, not only for those who still believe that the Earth is flat but also for anyone interested in intellectual revolutions. Among his achievements is the identification of the real causes of inflation, which has been no less of an intellectual revolution. Copernicus challenged the prevailing idea that our planet was the center of the universe.

Who should be taxed, how should they be taxed and what purpose should it serve? These questions are as old as the world. To help answer them, in his 1776 work \"The Wealth of Nations\" the Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith formulated four principles of taxation. According to him, taxes should be proportional to the benefits that a person derives from belonging to society.

July 3 marked an important stage in implementing the EU’s new big tech regulations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission started thresholds checks for large internet platforms that are considered to have a strong economic position and a large user base to impact the internal market. 

Yesterday Lithuanian Free Market Institute celebrated the Tax Freedom day in Lithuania. A person earning an average wage here had to work 4 months and 23 days just to support government spending (and it would be way more if not for inflation). Lithuanian Free Market Institute calculates this with their own tax calculator that also provides a receipt for specific spending.

The Lithuanian Free Market Institute, together with its partners Free Trade Europa and law firm TGS Baltic, is holding a roundtable discussion to discuss new forms of work that have been created via digitalization and the changing nature of employment that is being sought by platforms and individuals alike. 

The narrative of excess profits that recently sparked in public discussions in Lithuania was not accidental. Initially, business companies had been suspected of profiting from inflation. Then suspicions of undeserved profits hit banks. And here we are – digesting a proposal from the government to impose  a special windfall tax on banks.

The Directive on regulating platform work (the Directive)[1], first proposed by the European Commission (the EC) in December 2021[2], introduces a legal presumption of employment for potentially misclassified self-employed gig workers.

Sometimes it feels so good to let go of the reins of life and put your own worries and cares in someone else\'s hands. It is preferable to entrust those worries to professionals who better understand and are better equipped to deal with them.

In light of record-high price rises, inflation is a term that comes up a lot. For a long period of time, it had a slightly different meaning. Inflation was primarily used to describe a rapid increase in the quantity of money. It is not difficult to understand the link between money and prices.

On March 20th, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute with its unique program of youth debates, Freedom Talks, opened Global Money Week at the Bank of Lithuania. At the inaugural event school youth teams met in a tournament to debate \"Do we need money?\" and \"Can we buy anything with money?\"