Do We Need Direct Internet-Centred Democracy?
by Sergio Beraldo 23 September 2020 0
In recent years, the word “populism” has been everywhere. The first figure shows the rising use of the term by considering the frequency with which it was googled over the 2004-2020 period. As one can see, the US Presidential elections raised considerable interest. Queries reached a peak at the (...)
Croatia and Bulgaria: in-waiting of the Euro
by Krassen Stanchev 9 September 2020 0
While Europe’s GDP declines (12.1% in the Eurozone and 11.9% in the EU) and the debate on the EU next 7-year budget becomes heated, the relations between specific countries and the EU went largely unnoticed. The fact in point is that on July 10, the ECB welcomed Bulgaria and Croatia to the ERM2, (...)
Barely any European unicorns: What can the EU do?
by Alexander Fink, Fabian Kurz, Translation by Anna-Maria Kohnke 2 September 2020 0
Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb: these are only few of the numerous companies which have fundamentally changed our lives with new technologies in recent years. While their business models differ, none of the stars come from Europe. Apart from the serial entrepreneurs at Rocket (...)
The economics behind Altman’s warning
by Leonardo Baggiani 26 August 2020 0
Edward Altman is professor emeritus at NYU’s Stern School of Business and director of credit and debt market research at the NYU Salomon Center. He is also the creator of the Z-score: a heuristic index to assess the credit worthiness (and likeliness to default) of companies. The Z-score is built (...)
Why Rutte is good for Italy
by Samuele Murtinu 12 August 2020 1
Last month, after a long exhausting discussion, the European countries reached an agreement on the European Union’s budget, and especially on the Recovery Fund. This latter includes around €312 billion of grants for Member States and €360 billion of loans. Under the hard pressure of the so (...)
The EU Recovery Plan
by Sergio Beraldo 5 August 2020 0
After many days of fierce bargaining, the EU political leaders have eventually achieved an agreement about the magnitude of the stimulus package deemed necessary to restore sound conditions for the European economy. The deal was expected. A fiasco would have badly shaken financial markets (with (...)
Significant progress: healthcare in poor countries
by Alexander Fink, Fabian Kurz, Translation by Anna-Maria Kohnke 29 July 2020 0
Coronavirus has spread quickly across the globe. As a result, healthcare systems in several industrialised countries have been pushed to and beyond the verge of collapse. The virus has now also reached poorer countries in Africa. Although it spreads rather slowly there and hits a younger (...)
PERSPECTIVES FOR CENTRAL BANKING QE
by Leonardo Baggiani 22 July 2020 0
Central banks are exploring new monetary policies. Unconventional ones, of course. The Bank of England (BoE) has recently announced one of such attempts. Although the main concern remains how to manage a negative-interest-rates environment, BoE Chief Economist A. Haldane most interestingly (...)
Is the European Central Bank implementing surreptitious debt monetization?
by Sergio Beraldo 8 July 2020 0
There are situations in which people are all but obliged to act differently from what they preach. The latest example was provided the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde. In mid-March, she declared that the European Central Bank «is not here to close spreads». By (...)
Pricey, Pricier, Pharmaceuticals in the US
by Alexander Fink, Fabian Kurz, Translation by Anna-Maria Kohnke 1 July 2020 0
Five years ago, a US American hedge fund bought the distribution rights for Daraprim, a drug to cure AIDS. Overnight, the price went from $13.50 to $750.00. This price increase caused huge public outrage. Yet, high prices for pharmaceuticals are rather common in the US. No other healthcare (...)