Nationalist and cosmopolitan positions about immigration
by Sergio Beraldo 29 January 2020 0
As shown in Peter Higgins’ book “Immigration Justice”, two distinct positions dominate the immigration debate. The nationalist position assumes that states should favor the interests of their own citizens over those of foreigners. By contrast, the cosmopolitan position claims that residents are (...)
Immigration, tolerance and identity
by Sergio Beraldo 22 January 2020 0
A few weeks ago, the bodies of 39 people were found in a lorry trailer in Essex. They were Vietnamese migrants, including eight women, three boys and twenty-eight men. The eldest victim was 44, the youngest 15. This was just one in a series of dreadful events that have occurred in Europe over (...)
MiFID II: Too much consumer protection?
by Alexander Fink, Benedikt Schmal, Translation by Anna-Maria Kohnke 8 January 2020 0
The recently updated European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, commonly abbreviated as MiFID II, is supposed to enhance consumers’ protection. Adjustments of regulatory background questions aside, the EU aims to improve “protection of investors by prohibiting the acceptance of (...)
Cost-benefit analysis is less than satisfactory. Yet, the alternatives are probably worse
by Francesco Ramella 2 January 2020 0
Cost-benefit analysis is far from being a perfect tool. In particular, the subjective nature of costs and benefits makes all calculations arbitrary. Thus, it may happen that policymakers take bad decisions even when applying the best methodology. Yet, the world of politics requires that (...)
It’s the ideology, stupid! Journalists, citizens, and the declining trust in the news
by Luigi Curini 11 December 2019 0
Over the years, we have witnessed a general decline in the level of trust in the news as recorded by the general public. For example, according to the latest Reuters Institute Digital News Report, the average level of trust in the news is down 2 percentage points to 42%, with peaks such as -11 (...)
Free-market excuses for not so free-market-oriented central bankers
by Leonardo Baggiani 4 December 2019 0
In a recent speech, the Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve R.K. Quarles extensively cited F.A. von Hayek. Quarles highlighted Hayek’s argument on freely determined prices as crucial to convey knowledge across operators and enhance a functional economic order. By contrast, he (...)
Are half of all jobs bullshit? Bullshit!
by Alexander Fink, Kalle Kappner, Translated by Anna-Maria Kohnke 27 November 2019 0
In the 2000s, a short book by philosopher Harry Frankfurt made the term ‘bullshit’ socially acceptable. In 2018, anthropologist David Graeber published his bestseller, in which he argued that roughly half of the employment relations in the Western economies are ‘bullshit jobs’: they provide no (...)
“Mini Schengen” – Western Balkans’ Embrace of the Market
by Tanja Porčnik 20 November 2019 0
French President Emmanuel Macron’s spearheaded opposition to block European Union accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia during the European Council’s recent meeting in October. By doing so, he is not only dangerously and severely undermining the credibility of the EU accession process. (...)
Mafia and the market
by Sergio Beraldo 6 November 2019 0
Many people share the opinion that Mafia is a typical Italian phenomenon, something about which only Italians should worry. This opinion is wrong. Data recently released by Europol show that thousands of criminal organizations active in Europe can be labelled as of mafia-type, with about 70% of (...)
Principled Tax Competition
by Daniel Bunn, Elke Asen 30 October 2019 0
The structure of a country’s tax code is an important determinant of its economic performance. The Tax Foundation’s International Tax Competitiveness Index has ranked OECD countries’ tax systems for the last six years, and every year Estonia has been the number one country on the Index while (...)