About good news from Iceland, the next act of Greek drama, Spanish ghost city, Presidential poetry and tough love in Europe. We have good news for you. Iceland is not junk anymore. Iceland is a country whose credit rating, unlike in the rest of Europe, started to rise. Why is it important? Iceland has done what European insolvent countries and monetary union still resists doing. After the crisis, which mainstream economists and governors didn‘t see coming,…
INESS, Bratislava 7.3.2012 We added to our The State Waste database the whole proceeded year 2011. Database now consists of 824 documented cases of waste, clientelism and lawsuits brought up by the printed media since the year 2007. The total sum of revealed inefficient use of public funds in the year 2011 in the categories Waste and Lawsuits reached EUR 553.5 mil. It is not only the waste during this period of time but also…
As The Budapest Times writes the EU presented Hungary with ultimatum: either the coutry will prove to the EU that it has its budget under control until 22 June or it will lose a big share of development funds for 2013. In order to meet the EU deficit target (below 3% of GDP) further cuts on spending are necessary. They will most probably affect mainly subsidies for transport and medicines. More about financial situation of…
As The Lithuania Tribune writes Lithuanian GDP increased more than expected in the last quarter of 2011. When it comes to investment data the growth reached 10% and growth of the export, even though slowed down, still exceeds growth of import. At the beginning of the year income of the central government exceeded its expenses. Additionally, in January there was growth of over 16% in the retail sector. Newspaper points out “decreasing unemployment, lower inflation…
On March 9, 2012 Simeon Djankov, Bulgarian Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister announced that Bulgaria will repay its foreign debt using three sources of income. According to Sofia News Agency novinite.com these sources include “privatization of unnecessary State assets, short-term government securities, and mid-term 5 or 7-year Euro bonds in equal shares“. The proposal caused concerns expressed by Martin Dimitrov, member of the right-wing Blue Coalition. More about government’s proposal here.
The interesting headline written above is not just a key topic of almost all today’s discussions about economics and economic policy but also the
Slovak think tank INESS, the Institute of Economic and Social Studies, calculated the total potential risk exposure related to Eurozone rescue mechanisms on per capita basis. It is published on the institute”s new project website eurokriza.sk (“eurocrisis”). The Euro Bill summarizes total liabilities, guarantees and risk exposure created by bond purchasing programs, which were created as a part of the Euro debt crisis solution efforts. The total maximal risk exposure of each Slovak citizen is…
INESS released the Bill for Government Services for 2012. The annual price of the state for Slovakia increased by 2% and reached € 4,382 per citizen. The Bill has been distributed by Slovak major opinion making daily SME in January 2012 in printed form, reaching more than 70 000 readers. The goal of If you get caught driving practice test while your licence is suspended your vehicle may be impounded. the project is to explain…
The Institute for Market Economics publishes a report on fiscal rules, the logic behind their implementation, and history of fiscal rules in several countries. The report also presents
Polish government began public consultation on the rise of the state pension age in February. It provoked a national debate about how long the Polish will work. There are numerous arguments for and against the reform. Some of them are just and other are demagogic. We should select them and consider issues which are important for us – future pensioners. It is essential because the reform is unavoidable and most members of the European Union…
