In 2004 the Institute for Market Economics (IME) presented its first Alternative Budget. Each year since that we have suggested an annual budgetary frame with lower taxes, more effective spending, bold reforms, and lower state interference. At the beginning of 2023, Bulgaria will not have a state budget drafted by a regular government and voted on by a parliamentary majority.
Once again, it has become clear that Bulgaria shall not be joining the Schengen agreement for some time, mostly due to the distrust in the work of our institutions and their ability to effectively guard the outer border of the visa-free area. Apart from the deeper European integration and the further inclusion to the “rich country club,” the accession to the Schengen Area could provide a couple of specific benefits to the Bulgarian economy.
On November 8 the US elected all congressmen, 1/3 of senators, 36 governors and hundreds of officia;s at the state and local level. However, one of the main roles in the entire campaign was played by past and present presidents. Joe Biden, along with Barack Obama, encouraged people to vote for the Democratic Party, while Donald Trump waged battles within the Republican Party.
The next COP27 Climate Summit was held in Egypt. The very choice of Egypt as a country of the COP27 Presidency was strongly criticised by the communities involved in human rights activities. The consequences of the climate crisis are increasingly being felt around the world; droughts, violent weather events, food security threats, and climate migration pose new challenges to an old unresolved problematic and ineffective world strategy.
We pay too little global attention to what is happening in China. The Communist Party persistently continues the policy of a restrictive lockdown in response to COVID for over 2.5 years. Funnily enough, this policy is probably an ideal dream for many opinion leaders in Poland, given their position just a few months ago. But seriously, in the Chinese authoritarian system, this sanitary regime is more violent than anywhere else in the democratic world.
The term “wage” and its size are very important in national discussions about labor markets, taxes and insurance payments, but also part of international comparisons for investors deciding to build a factory or to place investments in a specific country. A lot of confusion has been created by the introduction of gross wage with arbitrary distinction between “employee paid” and “employer paid” taxes and contributions.
In this episode, we talk about experiencing the first days of the Russian invasion in Ukraine as a journalist, changing social moods, resilience of the Ukrainian fighters, possible scenarios for the end of the war, and about why it is crucial for the West to support the Ukrainian cause.
Ukraine has introduced numerous reforms between 2014-2019, which support macro-financial sustainability of the country. As a result, even during COVID-19, Ukraine went stronger with debt-to-GDP ratio at about 50%, sound banking system, improved corporate governance and higher openness and transparency. This helped Ukraine to remain resilient since the beginning of full-scale invasion by Russia.
Millions of people and thousands of businesses in Ukraine remain without electricity every day due to damage to infrastructure damage caused by Russian shelling. For two months in a row, the Russian Federation has been launching rocket attacks on the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine every week. The target of this damage was the network of substations and transformers that provide electricity transmission from generating plants.
In this episode, we talk about women’s rights in India, sexual violence, the caste system, the origins of power of Indian nationalism and Nerendra Modi, and the increasing intergenerational tensions in India.
