economy

The Southeast Asian peace is a term denoting a relatively peaceful environment in East Asia (regarding armed conflict) in the post-Cold-War era. Due to the regional specificity, it is important to analyze which actors and factors contribute to the Southasian peace, and which – despite the absence of the security infrastructure – tend to defuse the potential armed conflicts.

It is not a conceptual disagreement, nor a philosophical objection to the foundations of capitalism, not even an opposition to all the capitalists. It is an arbitrary chosen threshold of profit based on the comparison between one and the other individual, and supported by sentiments (not reason), such as deceit of inequality.

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.

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.

What if I told you that the poorest EU member state is a country in which economic populism is more often the rule of a thumb, rather than an exception? Would that surprise you, or would you think it is a fate just deserved by both the Bulgarian public and its government?

The results of the recent elections surprised probably all Slovaks. Quite a number of parties made it to the Parliament and everyone is waiting what a mash-up they will create. Presumably the biggest surprise was the success of an extreme right-wing party Kotleba – People’s Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS)

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.