Emission Possible

This paper urges EU decision makers to include transportation and buildings into the already existing Emissions Trading System (ETS). The study found that consolidating …

Green Alert

This paper urges EU decision makers to avoid entering a tit-for-tat subsidy battle with the Unites States in response to the US Inflation Reduction …

Tackling Europe’s Cost of Living Crisis

This paper analyses how excessive taxation and regulations are worsening inflationary pressures in eight European countries. As a result of heavy state intervention, European …

EU Minimum Wage Will Harm Subsidiarity and Low-Income Earners

The briefing reviews the newly passed directive on adequate minimum wages in the EU and investigates its potential negative impacts on traditional collective bargaining …

The case against energy price caps

As energy prices soar this year, policymakers in the European Union and the United Kingdom have proposed various measures aimed at limiting energy inflation. …

Fast tracking Ukraine

Granting candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova in June 2022 was an important and worthwhile step taken by the EU. Yet, as currently devised, …

Out of Pocket

This paper examines the tax and regulatory policies fuelling inflation across five European countries. The detailed analysis of high price levels in Germany, Italy, …

Time to question the entrepreneurial state and the mission economy

The EU and its member states are increasingly adopting a mission-oriented approach to tackling today’s pressing challenges. This line of thinking has been inspired …

Only a Sith deals in absolutes: how to nudge the Taxonomy towards Light Side

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced the European Union and its member states to substantially revise their energy policy in order to meet short-term …

Setting the parameters for a new Tobacco Products Directive

The European Commission is asking for feedback on its Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). The call for evidence closes on 17 June 2022 and is …

The realities of France’s fragile economy

It is well known that high production taxes and social contributions in France have been stifling the economy for some time. Prior to the …

Minimum Corporate Income Tax: When Fallacies Lead to Failures

The European Union is debating a directive that would place a minimum effective corporate income tax (CIT) of 15 percent on large-scale company groups. …

The Minimum Corporate Tax Directive and EU Challenges Today

At the end of 2021, the European Commission released a “Proposal for a council directive on ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for …

Where did the Digital Market Act lose competition, property, innovation and user interests?

The European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Council continue negotiations on the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a proposed regulation aimed at curtailing …

The battle for free societies

Many classical liberals dedicate their professional lives to making their societies freer, fairer, and more prosperous. We are battling bad ideas that would impoverish …

How the status quo serves platform workers and consumers

The European Commission has proposed a Directive of the European Parliament and Council on improving working conditions on platform work. The proposal lays down …

Changing the rules: A unilateral approach to non-tariff barriers

From 2023, all EU goods destined for the UK market will need to be certified with a new regulatory customs mark, recognising the regulatory independence of the …

How to identify and avoid gold-plating EU regulations

Preventing gold-plating is once again reinstated by the EU as an important measure to reduce barriers to the single market. Gold-plating is not in …

The economic damage inflicted by production taxes

Production taxes in France have long been a contentious issue closely linked to employment and wage growth. France currently sets one of the highest …

Changing competences

The European Union often concludes international trade agreements, which contain shared competences with the Member States (the so-called mixed competences agreements), thus they require …

Why tax competition benefits Europe

The latest International Tax Competitiveness Index, published by the Tax Foundation, illustrates the wide variation in the quality of tax systems across Europe. Many …

Raising barriers

The voting patterns of political parties in the national parliaments of Greece, Italy and Spain, and of their members of the European Parliament, show …

The DSA and Small and Medium Enterprises as users of online services

The proposed EU Digital Services Act (DSA) aims to protect users of digital services, but unfortunately it also creates serious new risks for both …

Mind the Gap: Pay Transparency Provisions in the EU

The European Commission seeks to strengthen the principle of equal pay for work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and …

Taxation Matters

As the International Tax Competitiveness Index states, the structure of a country’s tax code is an important determinant of its economic performance. A well-structured …

The EU’s digital package and the role of national competition authorities

The European Union has targeted large online platforms as potential threats to competition in the digital world. According to the Commission’s Vice President and …

The New European Digital Services Act: Risky for Consumers and Innovation

The EU Commission proposed the new Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) in December 2020. Collectively, these proposals are an important …

The Digital Markets Act: Precaution over Innovation

On 15 December 2020, the EU Commission released a proposal for a Regulation on Contestable and Fair Markets in the Digital Sector – referred …

We’ve got a serious pan-European constitutional problem

Debt mutualisation across EU Member States has recently been brought to the forefront of discussion. Firstly, because of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) balance-sheet operations, …

Nanny State Index 2021

The 2021 edition of the Nanny State Index, which has been expanded to 30 countries in Europe, shows that Germany has taken the top spot …

Taxing Capital – An International Comparison

The taxation of capital—at both the individual and the corporate level – is much debated and affects economic growth by lowering the incentives to …

Vaping’s image problem

Surveys suggest that public understanding of the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes has become divorced from the scientific evidence. A Eurobarometer survey conducted in …

Prices in a time of corona: the law and economics of price-gouging

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted widespread calls for stricter regulation of price gouging across the European Union. Whilst the calls come from a good …

Index of Liberalisation 2020

The Index of Liberalisation unveils which countries rank best in economic liberalisation and provides insight on countries with the infrastructure to rebound quicker following …

The EU National Energy and Climate Plans

With the Clean Energy for All Europeans package, the European Union has committed to being carbon-neutral by 2050. In order to achieve this goal, …

The economic cost of Catalonia’s hypothetical independence

Since the 2017 constitutional crisis in Catalonia, the momentum to secede from Spain has grown, but the potential economic impact has not been thoroughly …

Obesity and Overweight in Italy and the OECD Area

The way obesity is measured throughout the EU and OECD countries is significantly flawed. This paper shows that existing international comparisons measuring obesity are …

How to contain the crisis and reform the Polish justice system?

The crisis in the rule of law that Poland has witnessed since 2015 must be contained as soon as possible. Any proposal to restore …

Credit Day 2020

This year Credit Day for the European Union falls on the 17th of December. This is the day which, on average, EU member states …

EU Accession and Economic Freedom

The access to European Union and the status of EU membership require significant reforms in order for a country to align with the Union’s …

The East German Healthcare Phenomenon

The reunification of West Germany and East Germany took place 30 years ago, ending a period of around 45 years during which Germany had …

Economically free countries have fewer and less severe economic crises

With most of the world in a deep economic crisis due to coronavirus and the government reactions to it, knowledge of effective crisis policy …

A response to the SCHEER preliminary opinion

In September 2020, the EU’s Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) published a preliminary opinion (SCHEER 2020) on electronic cigarettes which …

The future of European Tax Competition Essay Prize

As the International Tax Competitiveness Index states, the structure of a country’s tax code is an important determinant of its economic performance. A well-structured …

International Tax Competitiveness Index

The International Tax Competitiveness Index (ITCI) seeks to measure the extent to which a country’s tax system adheres to two important aspects of tax …

CBAM: The Devil is in the Detail

The EU Commission launched a public consultation on the adoption of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), i.e. a fee to be levied on …

Working conditions of platform workers

The European Commission has published a study on working conditions of platform workers. The report identifies key challenges related to platform work, such as …

Economic Freedom of the World

The  Economic Freedom of the World Index measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The …

You Had One Job

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Health England (PHE) have been widely criticised for their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Serious questions have …

The response to the pandemic: A Hayekian view

Socio-economic systems should be understood as ‘complex’ phenomena that cannot effectively be controlled or managed through central planning. In general, markets and other decentralised …

Chinese Puzzle

Covid–19 is provoking a major reorientation of the foreign policy of the US and Europe. At the heart of this is their changing relationship …

Aiming at a common market, not redistribution

In 2018 the European Commission presented its proposed EU budget as “new,” “modern” and “focused.” However, in terms of its expenditure and revenue the …

Freight Expectations: Post-pandemic prospects for global trade

The World Trade Organization has predicted that global trade in goods will drop by between 13 and 32 per cent in 2020 as a …

Coronavirus and the economic value of human life

The Covid-19 crisis has provided many grim examples of some familiar problems in health economics and cost-benefit analysis, and of the ‘tragic choices’ that …

Inflation: The next threat?

The policy reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic will increase budget deficits massively in all the world’s leading countries. The deficits will to a significant …

No relocation without tax and regulatory relief

French inadequacies in the face of the COVID-19 crisis are giving rise to a fully fledged attack on globalisation. We are observing an increase …

The future of Artificial Intelligence

In February the Commission published the White Paper On Artificial Intelligence – A European approach to excellence and trust. It includes some interesting proposals …

Model Behaviour: How economists can shape the post-lockdown word

The seminal work on epidemiological models was carried out in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The models have developed substantially since then, but …

How fragile systems worsened the impact of COVID-19

There are features of our way of life and some of our economic systems that make outbreaks like Covid-19 more likely. The pandemic we …

The problems of financing through European mechanisms

There has been a great deal of debate recently – not just in the media, but also in academia and among economic analysts – …

Going Viral: The History and Economics of Pandemics

Pandemics are a recurring feature of human history. In the modern world, since the 1770s, we have had a series of pandemics, with a …

Carbon tax – an idea whose time has come

I was sitting in a hot tub in Leningrad in the summer of 1990 when I realised the Soviet Union would fall.
There were …

Coronabonds offer the wrong path

The German newspaper ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’ published an open letter by well-known artists about an initiative to issue Coronabonds in order to share the burden …

Could ‘Lombardy Bonds’ be the answer to the Eurozone debt puzzle?

At the last Eurogroup meeting, Eurozone finance ministers agreed to set up a ‘Recovery Fund’ to help trigger an economic rebound once the lockdowns …

Spanish lessons from the pandemic

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is by no means over, in Spain we can already start to learn some lessons that will ensure the same …

How much will the shutdown of the Danish economy cost?

This analysis is based on five scenarios for the length of the shutdown and an attempt to rate the industry’s production losses. The scenarios …

What the EU can learn from Swiss and Scandinavian carbon tax policies

The EU has established a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions through a €1tn European Green Deal. It aims to make the entire bloc …

Coronavirus is not the end of globalisation

The outbreak of the new coronavirus COVID-19 has been described as a threat to globalisation. But spreading risk across the world is essential in …

Is the European Commission to blame for the absence of European champions?

Following the veto of the Alstom-Siemens merger, the European Commission has been criticised for preventing the creation of “European champions” of comparable size to …

Giving the EU-GCC Trade Relations a Chance

Oman started 2020 off on the right foot when it comes to economic freedom. Only a few days before Sultan Qaboos passed away on …

The pursuit of a more popular EU may be a risky and hazardous business

Britain has left the EU. Politicians in Brussels and Member States are seeking a mission for The Union that has broad public appeal in …

The Education Voucher, a proposal For Excellence

The idea behind education vouchers has a solid academic and research backing. This arguably began in the 1950s with Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman proposing …

France’s quest for European tech leadership

Despite being a fierce supporter of pro-Europeanism and market liberalisation in the past, Emmanuel Macron’s plans for European-wide protectionism has been relatively unsuccessful. Early …

Stop trying to make trade agreements “woke”

Trade has lifted billions of people out of poverty by fostering international cooperation, expanding consumer choice, and above all, by integrating developing economies into …

5G and Huawei’s impact on trade tensions

With increased security risks concerning Huawei’s ties with the Chinese state and the firm’s planned rollout of 5G across Europe, the European Commission appears …

A new chapter between the EU and Vietnam

In 2019, the European Commission agreed a landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Vietnam, which was ratified by the European Parliament earlier this week. …

What policy questions will be created by driverless cars?

The 2020s will see the introduction of one of the most profoundly transformative technologies for decades: the driverless car. In the world we have …

Decentralisation of the Climate Crisis: Introducing Green Visas

Neoliberals often criticise governments for overly centralising the decision making process . They argue that this makes it difficult for individual actors to intervene, …

Climate Crises: The myth of eco refugees

On 2nd December 2019, delegations from the United Nations convened in Madrid for COP25, the 25th annual Climate Change Conference. They gathered to discuss …

Rent controls: How they damage the housing market, the economy and society

Rent controls are now being discussed in cities like Berlin, London, and New York. Sweden has had rent controls since 1942. There are at …

If we want to be green, trains should be taxed and not subsidised

The argument made by many such as George Monbiot that the protection of the environment requires the destruction of capitalism has no credibility given …

A new pro-science citizens’ initiative deserves support

A new student organized EU Citizens’ Initiative demands a streamlined process of authorising scientific innovations in the field of agriculture. They deserve to be …

Employment Flexibility: Policymakers Reluctant to Respond to Market Needs

The Lithuanian Free Market Institute and its partner organisations have published the third annual Employment Flexibility Index which ranks 41 EU and OECD countries …

The 20 biggest tech advances of the past 20 years

The 2010s are over. As we embark on the 2020s, now is the perfect time to reflect on the immense technological advancements that humanity …

Universal Basic Income: Is it a good idea?

The idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is currently the subject of much interest and discussion in the UK, with support and opposition …

Achieving a carbon neutral economy by 2050

The new European Green Deal plans to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050 while opening up new possibilities for development and employment. The …

Horizon 2020: A Game Changer for European 5G?

Facing the competition from North America and Asia, the European Union has proposed the launch of an ambitious €100 billion budget plan for funding …

Norwegian sugar tax sends sweet-lovers over border to Sweden

It seems unfair to call it a sweet shop. In the shopping centre north of Charlottenberg in south-western Sweden, barely four miles from Norway …

Agricultural innovation over intervention

There is reason to believe that population growth, natural resource scarcity and climate change will challenge agriculture to deliver food security in the coming …

Credit Day: The return of fiscal prudence

16th December marks Credit Day across Europe. This is the day that, on average, EU Member State governments have exhausted their annual tax income …

Time To Liberate Libra?

Libra, the new private digital money system sponsored by Facebook and a consortium of other firms, was announced on 18th June 2019, and officially …

Taxing High Incomes

This report compares top effective marginal tax rates on labour income in 41 OECD and EU countries.
The top effective marginal tax rate is …

Predatory Pricing or Predatory Laws?

The European Commission has fined in July telecommunications multinational Qualcomm with €242 million as it condemns them for selling chipsets “below cost” and therefore …

The Thunberg phenomenon, Extinction Rebellion, and the denial of trade-offs

When it comes to environmental problems in general and global warming in particular, I empathise with those who take the issue seriously. I like …

The Problem with European Champions

Free market liberals will have shuddered at the news that European Commission officials have drawn up far-reaching plans for a new €100 billion fund …

Reducing Shadow Economies

Across Europe, shadow markets constitute a significant portion of the economy. According to some estimates an average of 16 percent of GDP in EU …

Give Libra a Chance

In July 2019, G7 finance ministers and central bank governors met for a two-day conference in Chantilly, in Paris’ north. Under consideration was Libra, …

Two cheers for the EU-Mercosur Agreement

The new EU-Mercosur Agreement only superficially rejects protectionism. As much as it liberalises trade, it also protects European defensive interests and extends the EU’s …

Flightless Birds

The Dutch government has recently drafted a bill in order to “charge consumers and businesses for environmentally polluting behaviors”– seeking to implement a €7 …

The Spanish nanny state takes a step back

As stated in the latest edition of EPICENTER’s Nanny State Index, Spain is one of the freer countries in the EU, coming 6th out …

A new beginning – Greece after the elections

Unemployment peaked at 27.5%, more than 400,000 people emigrated in a single year, and the debt to GDP ratio reached 180%. The 2008 financial …

A Marshall Plan for the Media?

Media pluralism in Europe is under threat. Far from exhibiting a rich diversity of opinions, content, ownership and structures, Europe’s media sector faces considerable …

Connected Cars and the EU

A motorist in the average European state spends 29 hours a year stuck in traffic. This is a waste, costing drivers in the EU …

The fiscal union: a necessary step for the EMU

The 2008 crisis exposed the grave flaws of the EU’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Most economists were not able to predict such economic …

Two cheers for the EU-Mercosur Agreement

There has been a great deal of cheering over the recent free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (the South American trade bloc …

Corrupting CAP

A tale of corruption, political scandals, and even murder: the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has turned agriculture in Europe into an environmentally unsustainable, …

School Choice Around the World

Education reforms that allow new educational providers to supply schooling into a state system can improve parental satisfaction and raise learning outcomes through consumer …

The Case Against Tech Taxes

This paper explains why additional taxes on the turnover of companies with a large digital presence would be disproportionate, discriminatory and damage the European …

Free trade? Merco-sure!

For almost 20 years, EU negotiations with Mercosur, the South American trade bloc, have been a great challenge. Mercosur’s economic and political issues, French …

The parliamentary voting behaviour of populist parties in Greece

Timbro’s methodological distinction in the Authoritarian Populism Index between extreme and authoritarian populist parties is highly relevant in the Greek political environment, as shown …

The Cost of Independence: Is it worth the risk?

For the past 3 years, Spain’s international media coverage has mainly centered around its most controversial dispute: Catalonian secession. National media has covered the …

Reshaping Eurasian relations

The European Commission has recently begun the process of rekindling the EU’s relationship with Central Asia, located at the crossroads between the Middle East, …

Corporate Takeovers and National Champions

In April, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the proposed £7Bn merger of supermarket chains ASDA and Sainsbury’s. This decision came shortly …

Cherry picked winners: Why the concept of national champions is flawed

There is a current trend for corporate protectionism growing in the heart of the EU. Both the French and the German government as well …

Nanny State Index

Germany has overtaken the Czech Republic to become the EU’s most liberal country, according to the 2019 edition of the Nanny State Index. Finland …

Opening up the Atlantic

This week, the European Council approved mandates for the European Commission to open negotiations with the United States on two trade agreements.  First, an …

The mobility package: rushed regulation

The intentions of the EU Mobility Package might be correct; to improve the conditions for long-haul truckers in the EU. As a cross-border industry, …

Copyright Directive: The Regulation That Will Change The Internet

Yesterday, the European Parliament voted in favour of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, in one of the final stages before it becomes …

A European sugar tax: paternalistic, counterproductive, and regressive

A consumer organisation called foodwatch recently demanded that the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU put an end to its partnership …

Will 5G come to the EU?

It has been almost two years since GDPR entered into force. Data monitoring has become a regulatory headache for several industries and could soon …

A threat to freedom: the EU and online terrorist content

In the field of digital rights and civil liberties, all anyone’s talking about is the Digital Copyright Directive and saving memes. However, there may …

Battle Resumes – the Copyright Directive is Back

The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (the “Directive”) is back. The issues with the Directive were described in our September 2018 briefing …

Macron’s malaise

Macron is right: Brussels cannot continue with business as usual after the European Parliament elections. In his recent open letter to the citizens of Europe, …

Populists versus speed-bumps

In 2017 the Cambridge Dictionary proclaimed “populism” the word of the year. This phrase is defined in many ways and arouses great emotions. One …

Still Hand in Glove?

Following on from research published by the IEA between 2012 and 2014, this discussion paper revisits the issue of state-funded activism in the UK …

Corporate Tax Out of Control

Do European companies pay their fair share of tax? Many companies headquartered in France, Germany, Italy and Spain show very low effective corporate tax …

Rice regulations: Protectionism In Disguise

In January the European Union announced a ‘significant’ increase of customs duties on Indica rice produced in Cambodia and Myanmar and exported to the …

The future of Europe is Dutch

The Mass Demonstrations in France is a Reaction to the Effects of Interventionism, Not Liberalism

Mass protests of the “yellow vests” have been taking place in France since 17 November 2018. The catalyst of the demonstration was a fuel …

Web of Gazprom: Will Europe escape?

Disputes between Russian Gas powerhouse Gazprom and Ukraine’s national gas company Naftogaz have sparked a firestorm of political and economic debate. The “biggest commercial …

Free to work: Employment regulations in 2019

The Employment Flexibility Index of LFMI quantifies a great divergence in employment regulations between EU countries. Of the 41 countries included in the index …

Commission consulting on move to qualified majority voting (QMV) on taxation

On 20th December, the European Commission launched a (relatively brief) consultation on moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council on …

The EP “Platform-to-business relations” amendments will not make digital markets fairer

On the 26th April 2018, the European Commission adopted a proposal for regulating the relationships between online platforms and their business consumers. The initiative …

Violations of the rule of law principles in Poland despite recent amendments

On 21 November, public opinion in Poland and the EU was surprised by the ruling Law and Justice’s (PiS) proposal “backtracking on controversial reforms …

Note about the White House Report ‘Opportunity Costs of Socialism’

The White House’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) has published a report: “The Opportunity Costs of Socialism”. It is an interesting report with many …

The antidote to political polarisation is less politics

A lot has been written about how social media (or digital media more generally), by creating online echo chambers and filter bubbles, increases political …

Who are the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ protestors?

The French ‘Gilets Jaunes’ started their protests a month ago and since then the global media landscape has interpreted their actions and demands in …

Either goods will cross borders, or armies will

The practice of economic sanctions is not new. 2,400 years ago, Athens declared a trade embargo on the neighbouring city state of Megara, strangling …

Paranoid Android. Everything the Commission got wrong in its war on Google

The Commission’s decision to fine Google for unfair practice was based on a misunderstanding of the Android ecosystem and a mistaken definition of the …

EU Right to Pursue Liberalization of Aviation Markets

External aviation policy in Europe was preceded by bilateral agreements between countries. At this time, aviation markets were divided up by country and dominated …

CAP Subsidies Harm the Environment

Environmental degradation is a regular by-product of agricultural practices. Greenhouse gases, mass irrigation, water quality issues, and disrupted ecosystems are all examples of side …

Credit Day: improving appetite for fiscal responsibility

13 December marks Credit Day across the European Union. This is the day when, on average, European countries’ central governments exhaust their annual tax …

In Lithuania one in two would consider shadow activity in financial hardship

The shadow economy in Lithuania remains pervasive despite economic growth, and as many as one in two people would consider informal consumption and undeclared …

Shadow economy: Understanding drivers, reducing incentives

The aim of this publication is to present and analyse the results of representative population surveys into public perceptions of the shadow economy and …

CAP Subsidies Impinge on Australasian Free Trade

In a world of increasing economic protectionism, the EU claims to remain committed to free and fair international trade. Yet, the Common Agricultural Policy …

Drug decriminalization: The Iberian Peninsula

Given its prominent geographical location, the Iberian Peninsula has been, for decades, one of the biggest hubs in the world for cartels smuggling cocaine …

Competition in the High Technology Sector

The European Union’s approach to competition law and enforcement demonstrates an attitude in the high-tech and media sector, that – due to its anti-competitive …

Banning single-use plastics is a typical example of good intentions triumphing over sound judgement

The author is the former European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services.
With the Commission and Parliament both starting their last legislative year, one …

Regulating the New Media Economy

The new media economy operates differently from other industries when it comes to regulation. The marginal costs of technological giants mean that their interactions …

The populist hurricane

Over the last two years, the forces of populism have swept through Europe like a hurricane, wreaking havoc on the post-WW2 consensus, and ideals of international co-operation. …

In praise of the EU migration and employment “customs union”

In many ways the EU acts like a customs union when it comes to migration that leads to employment. It is very easy to …

Ageing Europe

Even though the ageing of the European population is not a new phenomenon, its potential effect on European Welfare systems is often under-estimated. According …

Why large corporations are not as greedy as they appear to be

For too long, studies have underestimated the positive externalities of large companies by solely focusing on factors such as corporate earnings. It is about …

The Copyright Directive – The EU Battles the Internet

The Commission put forward a legislative proposal in September 2016 for a new directive on copyright in the digital single market.  The aim is …

New Copyright Directive – new restrictions to online business?

In the second voting on the subject, the European Parliament approved the Directive on copyright in the digital single market.  438 MEPs voted in …

Some very Italian midsummer night’s questions on CETA

With the Italian Parliament still deep into its summer break, several important political and economic questions are gripping the minds of many voters. Leaving …

Why the EU’s digital turnover tax is a bad idea

The European Commission has proposed a tax on revenues raised from certain digital activities. However, this is essentially a political gesture with only weak …

An election without winners: Swedish politics faces an uncertain future

When Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the nationalist Sweden Democrats, entered the stage at the party’s summer festival in early August he exuded confidence: “Now …

The Turkish Lira Crisis: Why it threatens the EU and how it can be averted

In the last decade, Turkey’s economy has been experiencing high growth rates, partially due to a highly expansive monetary policy. However, in the process, …

The Price Women Pay

Political classes on both sides of the Channel were waiting patiently for the end of the EU Parliament’s recess, and for Brexit negotiations to …

Flawed EU regulations on e-cigarettes have set the market back

I ordered 200 millilitres of e-cigarette fluid from my online retailer this week. Not a large quantity – it is barely a third of …

Spanish flu: Pedro Sanchez’s malignant economic policy threatens Spain’s recovery

Having recovered from the recession that was brought about by the financial crisis, Spain’s economy is improving, but vulnerable. With the advent of Pedro …

The trouble with the EU’s digital tax

It’s time to establish a modern, fair and efficient taxation standard for the digital economy – or at least, that’s how the EU have …

State-Enforced Universal Chargers

Picture yourself at a friend’s house. Your Samsung phone buzzes, alerting you to low battery, but you’ve left your charger at home. You ask …

Should we sanction sanctions?

In recent years, Russia has been a prime target of economic sanctions – a longtime tactic in relations between Russia and the West. In …

The French Tax Burden: Is it all worth it?

French workers shoulder a far greater tax burden than the rest of their European neighbours. While the rest of the continent celebrated their Tax …

Of course sin taxes are regressive

There should be no debate about whether taxes on food, alcohol, tobacco and soft drinks (‘sin taxes’) are regressive. It can be easily demonstrated …

Deal or No Deal: Mexico’s Future in Trade

In a landslide victory 1 July, Mexico voted in its first third-party president. According to exit poll data, Andrés Manuel López Obrador gained more …

Is the EU-Japan EPA an inspiration for an EU-UK deal?

On Tuesday of last week, the European Union and Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Following over four years of negotiation, the EPA …

Spain’s economic revival

Is Spain due to become a more influential power within the European Union? The country is expected to become a net contributor to the …

Lithuania reforms its tax and pension system

In late June, the Lithuanian Parliament adopted a law that consolidated the employer and employee base for social security contributions and significantly cut the …

The Potential for the Italian Cannabis Market

Prior to the criminalisation of cannabis, the crop represented a significant facet of the Italian economy. In fact, in the 1940s, Italy was said …

Vestager vs Google

The European Commission decision in the Google Android case illustrates the difference in approach to antitrust issues between the US and EU.  It also …

The Impact of the Energy Taxation Directive

Instead of comprehensive re-examination of the Energy Taxation Directive, the European Commission is examining whether ETD should continue the exemptions and lower tariffs for …

Greek think tank KEFiM joins EPICENTER

EPICENTER is proud to announce that KEFiM, one of the fastest growing and most respected liberal, free market think tanks of Europe joined our network today. …

Flexicurity in the XXI. century

 
As the world is undergoing a third industrial revolution with the field of computer science rapidly expanding, one aspect of the labour …

Why the EU needs the City too

The UK might appear to have the most to lose from Brexit if City firms find it harder to sell financial services into the …

Offshore bet

The popular account of offshore financial centres as hotbeds of tax evasion is an outdated caricature that bears little resemblance to how OFCs operate. …

The post-Soviet transition to a not so free market economy

 
Lithuania has implemented a far-reaching economic reform program aimed at facilitating the shift from a centrally-planned economy to a free market one. …

EU Measure Doesn’t Capture Poverty

The EU member states have agreed that 20 million people should be lifted out of poverty by 2020. However, the measure that the European …

Brexit offers opportunities but no guarantees in determining how free market the UK will be

The potential that Brexit provides the UK to expand its traditional free market principles cannot be understated; unilateral free trade for example could …

New Zealand is a testament to the benefits of market liberalisation – and a warning of the subsequent back peddling that can arise

Jamie Whyte at the First Economic Freedom Summit, addressing liberalising reforms in New Zealand
The transformation of New Zealand’s economic policy from 1972 …

What have the Swiss ever done for us?

This article was first published under the title “Danke, Schweiz” in the Basler Zeitung, a Swiss daily newspaper. Translation by the author.
Classical liberal …

Non-tariff barriers to trade are damaging too

On average, the economic costs of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) now far exceed those of tariffs, which have generally been falling as new free trade …

Robocalypse Now?

It is claimed that robots, algorithms and artificial intelligence are going to destroy jobs on an unprecedented scale. These developments, unlike past bouts of technical …

Lithuania Commemorates the First Respect for Taxpayers Day

Today, on May 11th, Lithuania commemorates the first Respect for Taxpayers Day. On this occasion, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) has launched The Charter …

Doing more with less: The future of the Common Agricultural Policy post-2020

On May 2 the European Commission released a Communication that outlined the Union’s overall budgetary plan for the 2021 – 2027 Multiannual Financial Framework …

Nanny State Index – Nicotine Supplement

Our new league table of nanny state regulation shows that punitive taxation and excessive regulation of safer nicotine alternatives has increased across the EU. …

Growing protectionism after the financial crisis

The weak global GDP growth since the financial crisis in 2007-2009 has coincided with unusually weak growth in global trade.
The average global tariff …

What we get wrong about technology

Fans of Blade Runner – and I am one of them – have to admit that the film has a few moments that, to modern eyes, …

A UK-EU financial deal is approaching

One year after the triggering of Article 50 an acceptable deal on financial services between the UK and the EU now looks likely. In …

How high a price will the global economy pay for Trump’s tariffs?

In a last-minute move, President Trump granted several key allies exemptions from the steel and aluminium tariffs that came into effect recently. Apart from …

Fast Food Outlets and Obesity: What is the evidence?

Several local authorities in Britain have introduced ‘zoning laws’ to restrict fast food outlets within a certain distance of schools. Public Health England, the …

The Case for Vocational Training – A German Perspective

American economist Bryan Caplan recently published “The Case Against Education” in which he explains how the United States needs to reform its current education …

Sugar taxes have never worked anywhere

‘You can’t just point at things and tax them,’ said the singer Myleene Klass to Ed Miliband in a TV debate about the ‘mansion …

A Universal Basic Income (UBI): a price worth paying to cut regulations?

Suppose the government redistributed to every adult Briton a basic, unconditional income of £10,000 from tax revenues. Would aggregate employment levels a) rise, b) …

Ill-thought legislation in Poland are more important than the cabinet reshuffle

The list of bad changes is long: lowering the retirement age, increased politicisation of the economy, a ban on Sunday trading, a ban on …

Socially Useless? The Crucial Contribution of Finance to Economic Life

Financial firms serve many useful functions which individuals and households could scarcely undertake on their own. These functions include maturity transformation, matching lenders and …

Financial Stability Without Central Banks

A ‘free’ banking system without a central bank provides incentives for banks to act with restraint. Their lending policies are, in effect, tied to …

London’s Global Reach and the Half a Trillion Dollars Equity Prize

As the world’s leading international financial centre, London faces fascinating opportunities as well as some significant challenges in coming years. This is as a …

Digital Resellers: The Case for Secondary Ticket Markets

The reselling of tickets for events has a long history, dating back at least to Roman times.
Such secondary markets in tickets are no different …