Economy

The experience of dealing with Russia over the past 200 years has taught us that the only thing Russia respects is power; and we will only have power if we stay close to our friends. However, soon thereafter any such pragmatism was once again forgotten and we now continue living with our illusions as if nothing has happened.

Tax Freedom Day comes on May 18. It is a symbolic day in the year when an average taxpayer has paid all the dues to the government and begins to work for him- or herself. The fact that it comes later than in the previous year means that government expenditures has grown more than the country\'s economy.

Political leaders from across Europe have great things to say about Estonia’s leadership on digital technology. They applaud our e-voting and e-tax systems. They praise our widespread access to high-speed Internet. Estonia’s embrace of new technology is a model for Europe.

Fast forward to the 21st century Europe. Taxi drivers are the ones who are threatened by new technologies. A simple mobile app made them share the market with a whole lot of new drivers. And let’s be fair – nobody likes sharing a market with new competitors.

The Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) meets on the upcoming Thursday. Despite explicit criticism especially from Germany, no one should expect higher interest rates in the medium term.

While higher taxes cause immediate pain, numerous fees can be hidden in prices of products with anybody hardly noticing. A systematic concealing of environmental or social policies into the electricity prices is one of the causes of high prices. INESS has attempted to quantify the effect by introduction of the imaginary “Electric Tax”.

There is a profound feeling of injustice rooted deep in the Bulgarian society. This can be clearly seen in international studies that cover topics such as trust in institutions and the rule of law. The same feeling of injustice is responsible for the widespread negative public perceptions towards Bulgarian entrepreneurs.

Back in 2012, Mario Draghi vowed to do “everything in his power” to save the euro. Four years later that promise seems fulfilled – both the recent moves by the ECB and the market reaction that followed suggest that we are reaching the limit of what monetary policy can achieve in the euro area.

Josef Šíma, President of CEVRO Institute, talks with professor Michael Munger of Duke University about the economics and politics of unicorns, sharing economy, truly voluntary exchange and the PPE approach which combines rigorous policy analysis with an acceptance of ethical obligations of charity.

During the past few weeks nothing really new occurred in cryptocurrency’s world. The last two weeks, however, have already brought a change. The discussion related to Mike Hearns’s exit about the future of Bitcoin lead by important developers from the community is contributing to this change.