Fiat Euro! 21/2012
Another unnecessary summit, politicians know how to focus and agree only when they are under pressure from the bond markets. Who is ready for Grexit? A feast on German
Economy
What Can and What Can’t the State Do?
An answer to this rather broad question is one of the issues that formed the subject of Alexander Fink´s presentation during the discussion forum on the topic of “East German Transformation and German Public Finance” organised by Liberalni Institut on Wednesday, March 14, 2012. Before we are able to even tackle this question, it is necessary to put it in to proper context. The first issue that Mr. Fink discussed was the method of evaluation…
Mr. Euro-Bond
Will Germany open its arms to the call from new French leader Francois Hollande for growth supporting measures instead of pure austerity imposed by the Sarkozy-Merkel duo? That was the key question at the European Union summit held in Brussels last week. Taking a decisive step in ramping up the European effort for containing for the ongoing debt crisis could not be expected. The issue of European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the €700 billion rescue fund…
One Step Closer to the End – Fiat Euro! 20/2012
About the Greeks beating German-looking pensioners and Greek members of parliament playing black metal, while Merkel is happy to gamble with their lives. About fiscal pact, which is good in one country and bad in another one, about reducing debt with the help of magic and about American budgetary hockey game, which ended 99:0. After 3 000 years Greeks have improved the art of drama to the level of perfection. After practically nobody happened to agree…
Drama and Chaos
As finance ministers sat together at the Ecofin meeting last week, the future of the Eurozone was at stake, with Greek political deadlock casting a shadow of darkness over its own euro existence. Greek President Karolos Papoulias was going to ask politicians last Tuesday to stand aside and let a technocratic government be formed to avoid bankruptcy of the heavily indebted Balkan country even though radical leftists from Syriza party have already rejected the proposal…
Lessons from Lithuanian Austerity
In recent years, the Baltic States have been showcased as an austerity success story. While the whole world has seen countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal struggling to reduce their public spending, Lithuania has been hailed as an austerity example. Lithuanian success in public spending cuts has been widely acknowledged; yet simultaneous tax increases and their harmful effects have received less attention. Since the end of 2011, however, the country once again found itself…
LFMI: Tax Freedom Day in Lithuania Falls on May 20
According to the Lithuanian Free Market Institute’s (LFMI) annual calculations, Tax Freedom Day in Lithuania has moved earlier in the calendar and will fall on May 20
Grexit at the Gates! – Fiat Euro! 19/2012
Voters decided if they still want to live on others‘ money. Savings or growth? A false dilemma with irresistible sex appeal to politicians. The Golden Dawn in Greece. Why Hugh Hendry is concerned about his assets in Europe? In Spain thr nationalization of banks‘ debts is launched – will they manage to break record annual deficit of Ireland (32% of GDP)? French and Greeks were voting during the weekend. Results of both elections will lead to…
When Wen Leaves
As Wen Jiabao walks into the press conference room, lights focus on him and the applause accompanies his steps. Then, with his voice slightly cracking he said: “Journalist friends, this will be my last National People’s Congress press conference“. Wen Jiabao is the sixth serving prime minister of the People’s republic of China and ranks third out of a nine member Politburo of the Communist Party of China, the real power organ of the world’s…
Profile of Recession and Recovery
In most recent years a famous graph, showing how deep the recession is in the UK and what is the path of recovery, appeared periodically. The graph is made by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and compares the profile of the worst recessions in the UK over the past 100 years. The graph clearly shows that the last economic decline from 2008 is the longest of all compared episodes and that…
