Call for Papers
5 June 2019 1
IREF is a free-market oriented think tank. It promotes ideas, events, and academic research. With regard to research, IREF supports original projects that lead to the production of papers of academic quality of at least 7,000 words. This support is not a prize to published work, nor is it an (...)
STEM Popularity in Germany – A Reason for Optimism
by Alexander Fink, Fabian Kurz, Translated by Anna-Maria Kohnke 29 May 2019 0
German chancellor Angela Merkel recently expressed concerns over Germany’s and Europe’s technological competitiveness. Others voiced doubts about Germany’s tech future, too. One of the reasons mentioned more frequently to justify this pessimism is the shortage of skilled labour. As a result, calls (...)
Property Taxes in OECD Countries
by Sergio Beraldo 16 May 2019 0
There is no doubt that wealth mirrors taxpayers’ ability to pay better than other measures such as income. There is also no doubt that private wealth is much more unequally distributed than income, and that the dispersion in the distribution of wealth has been increasing in recent decades. (...)
Eastern Europe 30 Years After Revolution
by Tanja Porčnik 10 May 2019 0
In 1989, revolutions began sweeping across Eastern Europe. Communism was counting down its final days and what would soon be the end of the Iron Curtain. Eastern European economies were on the verge of leaving socialism behind and welcoming a market economy. Thirty years later, public policies (...)
Can The Market Stop Populism?
by Luigi Curini 2 May 2019 0
The relationship between populism and market economy is problematic. Despite some important exceptions (e.g. President Donald Trump), populist parties (and candidates) quite often place themselves much closer to the pro-State extreme than to the pro-Market one. It is often argued that populist (...)
Vehicle-Specific CO2 Emission Caps: An Outdated Policy Tool
by Alexander Fink, Fabian Kurz, Translated by Anna-Maria Kohnke 24 April 2019 0
CO2 emission limits and targets are currently all over the news. For example, the European Union is gradually strengthening the environmental standards for new vehicles, with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050. These emission targets, however, could be reached more (...)
Freedom of the Press and the Rule of Law: A Necessary Marriage
by Sergio Beraldo 10 April 2019 0
Press freedom in Europe is more fragile now than at any time since the end of the Cold War». This pessimistic and rather surprising statement appears at the beginning of the 2019 Annual Report published by the Council of Europe, which is the continent’s leading human rights organisation, (...)
The Politicised Nature of European Competition Policy
by Ryan Khurana 3 April 2019 0
A merger between the German conglomerate Siemens and French rail firm Alstom was blocked by the European Commission at the beginning of February over concerns that the new European rail giant would raise costs to consumers and stifle competition in transport. Less than two weeks later, the (...)
Representation in Democracies: Unequal and Unfair?
by Alexander Fink, Kalle Kappner, Translated by Anna-Maria Kohnke 27 March 2019 0
In light of increasing income inequality and wealth inequality in many Western democracies, some social scientists believe that democracy is in jeopardy. Do the rich have a disproportionally high influence on political decisions – in contrast with the ideal of equal representation of all voters? (...)
Synthetic Control and Extended Critics
by Leonardo Baggiani 20 March 2019 0
The recent paper “20 Years of the Euro: Winners and Losers” by Gasparotti & Kullas estimates that the introduction of the euro increased the pro-capita income in Germany and the Netherlands, while it impoverished the other EMU members. Critics have poured on the statistical technique. In our (...)