The Slovak government’s intention is to lower the market power of large international retail chains. Unfortunately, the alleged problems are mostly made-up. Instead, the “retail chain tax” may end up raising the food prices and wrecking havoc in Slovak retail.
The history of ship navigation on the shores of England shows us that when explaining events we need to take a look not only on the market failures, but also on the state failures. These played a bigger role than the textbooks’ authors might expect.
In August, the Bulgarian government adopted a detailed action plan for joining ERM II and the Banking Union and there were some changes1 to the Bulgarian National Bank Act that also seem to lead in this general direction.
The competitiveness of a country’s tax system is instrumental in creating a favorable environment for foreign direct investment, stimulating business, and advancing societal well-being. Competition based on endogenous factors should not be perceived as unjust or unnatural.
Past week, the Economic Freedom of the World: 2018 Annual Report was released. The report is based on data from 2016 and measures the economic freedom by analyzing the policies and institutions of 162 countries and territories.
If Ukraine loses the chance to receive assistance from the IMF and other international donors in 2018, the government will be hard-pressed to execute planned fiscal expenditures in 2018. The fiscal indicators will be also revised for 2019 to lower real GDP growth and higher inflation.
Labor market flexibility may be characterized by the market participants’ abilities to deviate from standard labor regulations and typical forms of employment. Such possibilities may not only provide positive outcomes to both employers and employees, but they may also benefit the whole economy.
There is evidence showing that increases in mandatory minimum wage might force some firms to increase prices, lay off workers, cut fringe benefits for employees and engage in other revenue-boosting or cost-cutting measures.
Taxation of tobacco products raises severe economic and social concerns which should be taken into account when formulating further tobacco taxation policies, including on novel tobacco products. Increased education rather than higher excise duties should be the main policy.
Apart from modern enterprises competing in international markets, there are more small enterprises of very low productivity in Poland than in developed countries. FOR estimates that half of Polish GDP is produced by at most 5.6 million people.
