European Union Is Getting Innovation Wrong [4liberty.eu Newsletter]

The October issue of the 4liberty.eu Newsletter provides an overview of the articles published on the 4liberty.eu website, serving as a starting point for further exploration.

Latchezar Bogdanov & Radostin Dyakov (IME): It Is Time To Freeze Public Sector Wages in Bulgaria

One of the recommendations of last week’s IMF mission in Bulgaria is to “cool down wage growth in the public sector.” This is not the first time that the IME has commented on the accumulation of risks to fiscal stability as a result of ill-considered decisions to increase spending, and in particular wages in the defense and security sectors over the past year. The start of the negotiations about Budget ’26 is an appropriate moment to look for macroeconomic rationale in the debate. Simply put, is it time to freeze public sector wages, given the dynamics of wages and economic trends in the period from the last year before the pandemic to the present?

Martin Vlachynsky (INESS): European Union Is Getting Innovation Wrong

I recently attended a discussion on Europe’s competitiveness. There was unanimous agreement that we are lagging behind in all applied technologies—perhaps with the sole exception of the pharmaceutical industry.

Jozsa Elek (Republikon Institute): Media Credibility and Crisis in Hungary

In Hungary, FIDESZ-KDNP has been ruling the country with a two-thirds constitutional majority since 2010, now for 15 years. Under Orbán’s regime, there is a particular focus on the country’s media landscape and the crisis of its credibility. It is no exaggeration to state that the public media is effectively under political control and has lost its legitimacy.

European Liberal Forum & Liberte: Trumping Democracy with Samuel Issacharoff [PODCAST]

Are we witnessing the weakening of political parties? If that is the case, what are the effects of this phenomenon on democracy? Is there a market for centrist politics? Has the US turned populist? And what is the future for Argentina under President Javier Milei? Leszek Jazdzewski (Fundacja Liberte!) talks with Samuel Issacharoff, the Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law at the NYU School of Law.