Economy

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.

The tax and social security system operating in Poland, based on the traditional employer-employee relationship, does not fit into the world of online platforms combining the service providers of the sharing economy directly with their clients.

The current legal system governing the interface between business and state administration is far too complicated, and interpretation of the law often depends on individual decisions of the tax authorities and courts. In order to function in this thicket of regulations, highly paid advisors are needed.

Estonia, Finland, and the Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel together with Rail Baltic have a potentially important role in the new global connection between Europe and Asia. The Norwegian experts have calculated that the distance between Shanghai and Hamburg is 12 277 nautical miles, a voyage time of 39 days.

Regional economic differences are not the exclusive preserve of Germany. They exist in almost all economies. However, the inequality between east and west Germany, can also be explained by means of a different divide: the economic gap between urban and rural areas.

The most important figure of the Slovak economy in the last 5 years has been the trend in unemployment. This rate had been decreasing since the first quarter of 2013 and had dropped to almost a half in the first quarter of 2018. The unemployment rate fell from more than 14% to nearly 7%.