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Washington Beyond the Headlines: Tweak Tax Reform to Help Business

  By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor   The once lazy southern city of Washington, DC is lazy once more. The Senate is out of session. The House is out of session. The President is out of town. The American people are breathing sighs of relief. And free market policy people just keep on working […]

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Tory agenda is more statism, Queen’s Speech shows

    “Queen’s Speech focused on increasing ‘state intervention,’ not plans to make people freer” By Mark Littlewood, courtesy of the Institute of Economic Affairs   The Queen’s Speech makes clear the government’s commitment to negotiate and secure free trade agreements with the European Union and the rest of the world. The plans set out […]

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Breaking the “black zero”: Germany has room to spend more

  “How much space for fiscal expansion? Germany falls victim to ‘output gap nonsense’” By Philipp Heimberger, courtesy of WIIW   The German economy is in a downturn. The growth rate is currently among the lowest in the euro area, and numerous economic research institutes have revised their forecasts downwards. German industry is already in recession. In […]

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Quebecers receptive to competition in healthcare

  “Health care: Quebecers more open to competition for better access” Courtesy of MEI   While governments keep shovelling billions of dollars into the country’s health care systems, and results continue to disappoint, a strong majority of Quebecers are open to entrepreneurship in order to alleviate the lack of service, all while maintaining the universal […]

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EU transfers fuel corruption, white collar crime

  “There is a case for reforming the long-term EU budget” Courtesy of Open Europe   On October 21th 2019, Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe gave evidence to the Committee on EU Affairs of Germany’s Parliament in Berlin, discussing the long term EU budget 2021­-2027, which is currently being negotiated. A briefing provided by Pieter Cleppe detailing how […]

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“Both parties have abandoned fiscal restraint”

  “Both parties have “abandoned fiscal restraint” in favour of more borrowing” By Prof. Syed Kamall, courtesy of IEA     Today’s election speeches show both parties have abandoned fiscal restraint in favour of increases in public spending to be paid for through extra borrowing.   The Labour Shadow Chancellor has pledged to more than […]

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Pay-for-performance didn’t help student achievement in Peru (but it could)

“Does pay-for-performance in education work at scale?” By Cristina Bellés Obrero and María Lombardi, courtesy of IZA     Teacher quality is key for student achievement. Individuals exposed to better teachers perform better in school, and are more likely to attend college and earn higher salaries. However, the payment schemes in most educational systems are based on lifetime job tenure […]

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Tory agenda focuses on government intervention, ignores markets

                Queen’s Speech focused on increasing “Government intervention”, ignoring role of markets By Mark Littlewood, Director, courtesy of IEA     The Government’s commitment to preserve free trade with the European Union and expand free trade with the rest of the world remain a welcome pledge, as emphasised […]

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Sorry, Portuguese recovery was no “miracle”

                      Colombia may be the home of magic realism as a literary movement, but Argentina seems to be the home of magical thinking as a governing philosophy. The latest trend in magical wish fulfillment has Argentines looking across the Atlantic Ocean to Portugal, which supposedly […]

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PRO Labor Act – a disaster in waiting, flexible parent leave & more: WASHINGTON BEYOND THE HEADLINES

      By Andy Blom, TES Contributor     At Last…Our Senators and Representatives are busy, energetic and hard at work! Unfortunately that’s because they are in recess and off trying hard to get re-elected. Never fear, in a few short weeks they will be back in Washington spending endless hours and countless taxpayer […]