“Weekly Briefing: Attention turns to the structure of next phase Brexit talks” By Anthony Egan, courtesy of Open Europe The UK’s departure from the EU on 31 January is now certain. Later today, the House of Commons is expected to approve the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, before it proceeds through the final stages of […]
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“Large-scale” VAT fraud costs Europe 30B-60B euros per year
“The EU Runs a Large Trade Surplus with Itself – One Reason Is Apparently Large-Scale VAT Fraud” Courtesy of IfW Kiel The EU runs a trade surplus with itself of EUR 307 billion—a figure that should be zero if all transactions were properly reported and recorded. Measurement errors alone cannot account for this […]
EU’s “climate emergency” threatens rule of law
“Goodbye freedom, democracy and the rule of law” By HSH Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, courtesy of ECAEF and GIS By declaring a state of climate emergency, the European Parliament opened the door to excessive measures that could ultimately violate individual freedoms and erode democracy in the European Union. The climate debate has become […]
Rwanda’s lessons on gender equality, public health, and development
“Women Leaders in Global Health 2019: Powerful Lessons from Kigali” By Dr. Nicole de Paula, courtesy of IASS Potsdam Rwandans are a testimony to human resilience. Following the country’s darkest times, when around 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered by ethnic Hutu extremists during the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has emerged as the “Switzerland of Africa”. […]
Around half a million German jobs depend on exports to UK
“460,000 jobs in Germany are linked to exports to the United Kingdom” Courtesy of the IAB Around 460,000 jobs in Germany are directly or indirectly linked to exports to the United Kingdom. Around 60,000 of these are employed in the automotive industry. This emerges from a study published on Tuesday by the Institute for Labor […]
Agricultural labor law’s “touchback” provisions make absolutely no sense
“The H‑2A Touchback Requirement Makes No Economic or Security Sense” By David Bier, courtesy of the Cato Institute The House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 5038) last month. The House bill made some improvements to the H-2A program, which allows farmers to hire foreign guest workers, but it incorporated […]
Picking Losers: Green energy subsidies are a chronicle of failure
“Crescent Dunes: Another Green Flop” By Chris Edwards, courtesy of the Cato Institute The Department of Energy called the vast and expensive solar project a “success story” and “milestone for the country’s energy future.” But you can’t trust what the government says. Crescent Dunes is a flop and taxpayers are set to lose $737 million […]
Dump certificate-of-need laws to boost healthcare competition
“Florida Points the Way Toward Increasing Competition Among Its Healthcare Providers” By Davis Warnell, courtesy of the Mercatus Center Did you know that in many states, healthcare providers need to obtain government permission before rolling out new services or technologies? It sounds nonsensical, but these requirements, known as certificate-of-need (CON) regulations, exist […]
No, the WTO isn’t dead, but it is on life support – and it could die this year
“Will the WTO Survive 2020?” By Daniel Gros, courtesy of CEPS The World Trade Organisation (WTO) did not die on December 11, 2019, but an important part is now missing: disputes among WTO member states can no longer be settled by an independent instance recognised by all parties. This was the function of […]
Florida Bill Addresses “Sue and Settle” Bad Faith Claims
By Alan Daley, American Consumer Institute A bill (SB 924) was introduced in the Florida Senate relating to third-party bad faith actions against insurers. SB 924 is a successor to a bill that was allowed to die last year. The bill is an attempt to quell ridiculous damage awards for so-called “bad […]