Sweden

For decades, Sweden has been presented as a proof of the superiority of the welfare state. In reality, its success tells a different story: one of liberalization, a crisis caused by excessive public-sector expansion, and a return to market pragmatism.

The documentary \"How Sweden Quit Smoking\" by Tomasz Agencki shows the remarkable synthesis of human creativity, innovation and personal responsibility that not only launched Sweden\'s success in smoking-related harm reduction, but also points the way for other countries around the world. Sweden\'s experience shows that alternative products that allow people to use nicotine in a safer way play a key role in this process.

At the NATO summit in Madrid, the decision was finally made to agree to the accession of new members: Sweden and Finland. In recent weeks, the presidents of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, and Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have emerged as the biggest opponents of expanding the alliance to include the Nordic countries.

The financial wealth of Slovaks is calculated in about tens of thousands of euros, as a matter of fact, the wealth of Slovaks lies in the bricks of their houses. A house or a flat is a money-making property only for a very small number of Slovaks. Income from capital will push the inequality rate higher.

The pandemic continues, but the first data-based analyses are starting to emerge – and some conclusions may now be drawn. The most important indicator in assessing the response to the pandemic is the excess mortality – i.e. how many more people died in comparison to the average rate in previous years.

The now famous phone call between President Trump and President Zelensky released to the public in September attracted most attention around the Biden affair and possible links to US military assistance. Less noticed were Trump’s remarks that Europe did nothing for Ukraine.

The goal of the project was to unfold and analyze the composition, causes and consequences of the shadow economies in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Sweden and Belarus and to draw policy recommendations for tackling the shadow economies in the respective countries.

From a total of 34 OECD countries, 29 of them have a minister for regulatory reform – Slovakia is not one of them. 33 OECD countries have a permanent institution for overseeing regulatory policy – Slovakia is not one of them.

Unexpected news came from Scandinavia last week. Sweden will have lower corporate tax rate than Slovakia! Last Thursday Swedish government announced its intention to lower tax rate from 26,3% to 22% in order to „strengthen climate for investments and growth“ in the country. Well,  even Scandinavian socialism is not what it used to be. Truly […]

Current fiscal crisis in the EU is, among others, a result of expansionary fiscal policy conducted in previous periods and especially during economic booms.