“The consequences of the Covid-19 lockdown: what does history teach us?” By Sergio Beraldo, courtesy of IREF Last February, this website hosted an article titled “The unintended consequences of coronavirus”. At the time the article was published, the situation was not at all dramatic in Europe. For example, the official Covid-19 […]
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How South Korea, Taiwan leveraged tech to contain COVID-19… and win FDI
By Frank Bickenbach and Wan-Hsin Liu, courtesy of IFW Kiel In the coronavirus crisis, Taiwan and South Korea have shown that they dispose of efficient governance systems, high-quality research and public services and highly developed digital skills and infrastructures, and that they can successfully use these capacities to meet challenges. These capacities are among […]
COVID-19 will force change on UK’s welfare state
“Very unlikely” current welfare system will survive the Covid-19 pandemic, says new IEA briefing By Dr. Stephen Davies, courtesy of IEA Radical changes to the welfare system are historically associated with major crises and events such as wars, civil unrest, famines or epidemics. There is no reason that it will this time be any different, says a new […]
Reaugh: Now that the World Has Stopped… A Strategic Metal Can Help Us Start It Again
By Larry Reaugh, CEO, American Manganese “You cannot make steel without manganese. And if you cannot make steel – the world stops.” That’s the glass of cold-water quote from former BHP Billiton CEO Brian Gilbertson, more than a decade ago as the world toppled into the finance-driven 2008-09 Great Recession. Fast forward to […]
Dump anti-business taxes to unleash French potential
“Let’s dismantle our anti-economic taxation before it finishes our economy” By Nicolas Marques, courtesy of Institut économique Molinari The future is particularly worrying for French society. Companies, suffocated by extraordinary taxation and finicky regulations, have structural competitiveness problems. The previous crises have left their mark, with abnormally high unemployment. The coronavirus strikes a weak economy. In the first […]
Why Johnson won’t ask for a Brextension
By Jannike Wachowiak, courtesy of the European Policy Centre By running down the clock and refusing to ask for an extension, Boris Johnson’s hope seems to be to secure concessions from the EU at the last minute. This form of brinkmanship is likely to backfire and increases the chance of no deal. Why an […]
EU Budget: Transfers or low-interest loans?
“Ten questions and answers on the Franco-German proposal” By Jürgen Matthes, courtesy of IW Koeln Germany and France have proposed a European Recovery Fund of €500 billion, based on large loans taken out by the EU to be transferred exclusively as grants to EU member states particularly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The legal […]
The absurdity of “self-sufficiency”
By Haig Simonian, courtesy of Avenir Suisse Healthcare, travel and education are just three of the areas being reassessed following the COVID-19 outbreak. Most momentous of all, however, is the worldwide rethink about globalization. Come a global disruptor like the corona virus, and the elaborate supply chains developed by industry over recent years […]
Why do Argentines save in dollars?
By Libertad y Progreso, courtesy of Ámbito Financiero “Whoever bets on the dollar loses.” This famous phrase was said by former Minister of Economy Lorenzo Sigaut in 1981, to try to convince Argentines to stop saving in dollars. As expected, reality prevailed with an exchange rate escalation. Today the BCRA is […]
Europe needs a plan to redevelop coal regions
By Christian Egenhofer, Jorge Núñez Ferrer, and Irina Kustova, courtesy of the Center for European Policy Studies The economic slow-down caused by the pandemic will aggravate the existing stress in some regions, especially those relying on lignite, coal and peat as their main economic activity. But efficient and effective use of COVID-19 recovery funds […]