Articles

Czechia ranked 26th out of 30 countries in this year’s Nanny State Index, maintaining its reputation of lifestyle freedom, but continuing to fall in the rankings. The higher a country ranks, the more regulated its lifestyle is. Our country’s approach to regulating food, beverages, alcohol, and electronic cigarettes remains largely liberal. However, in 2017, Czechia was the most liberal country in the ranking.

EU antitrust regulations hinder innovation, which is the most effective way of fighting monopolies and strengthening the EU as a global power. That is ironic since the nominal purpose of those antitrust rules is to fight monopolies, not to empower them. The European Union needs to pivot its approach to businesses to be competitive globally, maybe even to fill the growing void left by the U.S.

Hungary is a beautiful country: homogeneous, democratic, united, and Christian. These facts are so obviously true that I do not even have to provide sources. My country also has an excellent educational system, which teaches journalists working in the booming and free media sector that sarcasm is not a good linguistic tool to use in an article. Why should I do otherwise?

The term “wage” and its precise definition are crucial in public debates about labor markets, taxation, and social insurance. Wages also serve as a key indicator in international comparisons, guiding investors in evaluating where to locate their operations. However, confusion often arises from the distinction between gross wages and the arbitrary separation of “employee-paid” and “employer-paid” taxes and contributions.

After 25 years, negotiations have concluded on a trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, a bloc of South American countries. It aims to significantly liberalize trade between the two regions by eliminating tariffs on 91% of goods, reducing the remaining ones, and removing non-tariff barriers.

What does the forthcoming presidential election in Poland mean for Europe? What are the main issues and divisions between the candidates that occur in the ongoing campaign? And how will the election result influence the current government and its policy? Leszek Jazdzewski talks with Adam Jasser, the Deputy Director at TVP World.

The Sunday shopping ban (initially on selected Sundays, later on almost all) has been in force in Poland since 2018. The bill proposed by the Third Way intends to restore trade on the first and third Sundays of each month, in line with the Coalition’s parliamentary campaign promises. Even restoring trade every other Sunday should be regarded as a step in the right direction.

The Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, has once again declared that her ministry is working on a list of professions to be protected from the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), along with regulations that would limit or even ban the use of AI in certain jobs. This move could turn Poland into an economic backwater and harm Polish citizens, including those working in the professions in question.

Employment policy has been crucial to the success of Fidesz, Hungary\'s governing party since 2010. Their so-called \'work-based society\', which has led to skyrocketing employment rates, combined with a lack of political alternatives, has made poor, geographically isolated, ethnically diverse regions much more likely to vote for Fidesz.

A new Pope is about to assume his office, but what once was a greatly influential position, making and breaking kingdoms, is becoming obsolete, at least in the Western world. Should a new Pope change that? The relevance of the Pope is hard to measure, but for those interested in number-crunching, several metrics are available.