Superindex

According to the latest IBL Super Index, the degree of internal divergence within Eurozone countries keeps increasing. This means that the gap between Eurozone …

What would count as a ‘successful’ Brexit?

The ambiguity of the Commission’s “Harnessing Globalisation” paper

On May 10, 2017, the European Commission published its reflection paper on Harnessing Globalisation. It is the second paper in a series initiated by …

The Robot Tax: a levy on innovation, growth and job opportunities

During his recent electoral campaign, the defeated socialist French presidential candidate, Benoît Hamon, repeatedly hinted at a potentially radical proposal: To impose a tax …

The importance of an anti-lobbying clause

The composition of civil society at the EU level is largely dictated by which groups the European Commission chooses to fund. Furthermore, citizens have …

Homer Economicus: The Simpsons and Economics

“Homer Economicus. The Simpsons and Economics” is a book edited by Joshua Hall, currently Associate Professor of Economics at West Virginia University, and published …

Labor Flexibility Beats Unemployment: A Closer Look at the Labor Market in Denmark

Despite Bernie Sanders’ efforts to identify Denmark with some sort of democratic socialist utopia where a highly-interventionist government regulates all the nooks and crannies …

The past and future of European federalism: Spinelli vs. Hayek

The year 2017 will mark the sixty-year anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. On this occasion, the European project will receive a thorough check-up, …

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and its Impact on Labour

In 1821, at the height of the First Industrial Revolution, David Ricardo, one of the most influential classical economists of the late 1700s and …

Free to Move

People greatly overestimate the immigrant share of the population and many wrongly believe that openness to migration harms Britons’ job prospects, burdens public finances …

European Superindex

It has been one year and a half since Professor Nicola Rossi and I started the Superindex at Istituto Bruno Leoni.
 
The Superindex …

The spectre of another lost decade

On Sunday night, following a shock negative result in a referendum on the constitutional reform he had championed, Matteo Renzi, Italy’s Prime Minister, announced …

The Effect of Corporate Tax Base Harmonization in the EU

The European Commission (EC) has renewed its proposals on the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) initiative. The initiative refers to two proposals by …

Give the people what they want

In a previous post, entitled “The changing narrative of the Euro crisis”, Diego Zuluaga argued that, while Eurozone reform was justified, European policymakers “should …

Ageing Europe: A Mixed Blessing

Pension Systems and Politicians’ Temptations
 
It is common knowledge that Europeans are in their best physical shape ever. On average, in the European …

Europe’s demographic timebomb

Philip Booth // 16.09.2016
This article is based on a presentation Prof Booth gave at the Autumn University of the Alliance of European Conservatives …

Ever freer union? Economic freedom and the EU

3 August 2016
By performing an econometric analysis on the Fraser Institute’s “Economic Freedom of the World: Annual Report 2015,” it is found that …

The importance of being credible: Eurozone rules and Italian banks

13 July 2016
 
The conventional account of the Eurozone crisis is one of reckless bankers lending to households and governments far beyond their ability …

Brexit: a natural experiment for the EU

29 June 2016
Can a country do better after leaving the EU? Indeed, we can perform an even more granular analysis and seek to …

The Authoritarian Populism Index: Main Findings

16.06.2016
The Authoritarian Populist Index (TAP) includes both right- and left-wing populist parties and covers all national elections in 33 European countries, from 1980 …

France: the hottest economy you’ve never heard of

08 June 2016
France badly needs economic reform. But we shouldn’t let negative news headlines blind us to the fact that the French economy …

Bans on home-sharing won’t redress Berlin’s housing shortage

Diego Zuluaga // 04.05.2016
A law banning short-term apartment rentals just came into force in Berlin. The measure, which was passed in 2014 but …

Index of Liberalizations 2015

Istituto Bruno Leoni, November 2015
The Istituto Bruno Leoni’s Index of Liberalizations aims at identifying both the barriers to competition and the best practices …

Shadow Economies in the Baltic Sea Region 2015

Lithuanian Free Market Institute, November 2015
A new report by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute looks at perceptions and prevalence of the shadow economy …

The Effect of Harmonisation of the Corporate Tax Base in the EU

Lithuanian Free Market Institute, November 2015
The European Commission has re-launched the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) initiative. CCCTB refers to a proposal …

French government will end year by going deeper in debt

Cécile Philippe and Nicolas Marques, November 2015
According to Eurostat data, the French government will have used up all of its resources by November …

Federal Britain: The Case for Decentralization

Philip Booth, November 2015
The UK’s current devolution settlement leads to unrepresentative government and has an inbuilt bias towards “big government”. This situation is …

Slicing up the public sector: A radical proposal for devolution

 
Tom Packer and Matthew Sinclair, March 2015
 
The UK is highly centralised and devolution combined with fiscal decentralisation could bring significant economic …

Taxing Problem: The UK’s incoherent tax system

Ryan Bourne, December 2014
The UK tax system is incoherent. Even ignoring benefits styled as tax credits and the withdrawal of child benefit, taxpayers …

Too late for France? Finding and restoring the proper size of the modern state

 
Cécile Philippe, Institut Economique Molinari, October 2014
 
We are living in exciting times, with a whole series of beliefs and certainties being …

Against government planning over the airwaves: a free-market approach to spectrum management

 
Massimiliano Trovato, Istituto Bruno Leoni, October 2014
 
The development of television and mobile communications in the coming years will depend on the …

The new equality: global development from Robin Hood to Botswana

 
Fredrik Segerfeldt, Timbro, September 2014
 
In the mid-1700s Europe and North America broke with thousands of years of economic stagnation. When power …

Position on expanding the Interchange Fee regulation to commercial payment cards

 
Lithuanian Free Market Institute, June 2014
 
The measures proposed by the European Commission are not suitable for achieving a single market in …

Economic freedom in the EU: mediocre today – world leader tomorrow?

 
Gustav Blix, Timbro, May 2014
 
Five years since the outbreak of the most severe economic crisis of our time, there is widespread …

The Government Debt Iceberg

 
Jagadeesh Gokhale, March 2014
 
Western governments have developed unfunded social insurance programmes where retiree benefits are paid for from the taxes of …

Income from work – the fourth pillar of income provision in old age

 
Gabriel H. Sahlgren, IEA, January 2014
 
The benefits of increasing labour participation rates in old age flow both to the individual – …

Call to reform EU’s €7.5bn NGO budget

 
Lithuanian Free Market Institute, September 2013
 
Brussels, 24 September – The European Union spends €7.5 billion a year on non-governmental organisations, even …

Euro Puppets: The European Commission’s remaking of civil society

Christopher Snowdon, March 2013
With public confidence in the European project waning, the idea of initiating a ‘civil dialogue’ with the public emerged in …