Online Articles Archives - IREF Europe https://en.irefeurope.org/category/publications/online-articles/ Independent research and policy analysis on fiscal, monetary, and regulatory issues in Europe Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:24:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://en.irefeurope.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/IREF-LinkedIn-Profile-DarkBlue-scaled.png Online Articles Archives - IREF Europe https://en.irefeurope.org/category/publications/online-articles/ 32 32 How Poland Became One of Europe’s Best-Performing Economies https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/how-poland-became-one-of-europes-best-performing-economies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-poland-became-one-of-europes-best-performing-economies https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/how-poland-became-one-of-europes-best-performing-economies/#respond Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:24:15 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36248 For much of the past decade, Europe has been weighed down by prolonged economic stagnation. Growth has slowed, productivity has stalled, and even the continent’s largest economies—Germany and France among…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/how-poland-became-one-of-europes-best-performing-economies/feed/ 0 Who pays and who should pay for travel? https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/who-pays-and-who-should-pay-for-travel/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=who-pays-and-who-should-pay-for-travel https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/who-pays-and-who-should-pay-for-travel/#respond Tue, 24 Feb 2026 06:22:13 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36250 As the story goes, there are no free rides. The costs of each journey must necessarily be borne by someone. They can be broken down into three categories: the monetary…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/who-pays-and-who-should-pay-for-travel/feed/ 0 Trump’s Housing Plan Misses the Real Cause of America’s Housing Crisis https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/trumps-housing-plan-misses-the-real-cause-of-americas-housing-crisis/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trumps-housing-plan-misses-the-real-cause-of-americas-housing-crisis https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/trumps-housing-plan-misses-the-real-cause-of-americas-housing-crisis/#respond Fri, 20 Feb 2026 04:43:29 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36241 America’s housing market is failing a growing share of households. Prices and rents are at record highs, and homeownership is steadily slipping out of reach for younger generations. In response…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/trumps-housing-plan-misses-the-real-cause-of-americas-housing-crisis/feed/ 0 UK government’s plans to track and de-risk its own ‘shadow debt’ show the costs of the Net Zero transition will be imposed directly onto businesses and consumers https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/uk-governments-plans-to-track-and-de-risk-its-own-shadow-debt-show-the-costs-of-the-net-zero-transition-will-be-imposed-directly-onto-businesses-and-consumers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=uk-governments-plans-to-track-and-de-risk-its-own-shadow-debt-show-the-costs-of-the-net-zero-transition-will-be-imposed-directly-onto-businesses-and-consumers https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/uk-governments-plans-to-track-and-de-risk-its-own-shadow-debt-show-the-costs-of-the-net-zero-transition-will-be-imposed-directly-onto-businesses-and-consumers/#respond Tue, 17 Feb 2026 06:31:11 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36230 Introduction The UK Budget papers of November 2025 acknowledge the funding models through which the government plans to increase the liabilities of UK taxpayers, beyond the government borrowing the money…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/uk-governments-plans-to-track-and-de-risk-its-own-shadow-debt-show-the-costs-of-the-net-zero-transition-will-be-imposed-directly-onto-businesses-and-consumers/feed/ 0 EU–Mercosur: The Making of One of the World’s Largest Free Trade Zones https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/eu-mercosur-the-making-of-one-of-the-worlds-largest-free-trade-zones/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eu-mercosur-the-making-of-one-of-the-worlds-largest-free-trade-zones https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/eu-mercosur-the-making-of-one-of-the-worlds-largest-free-trade-zones/#respond Fri, 13 Feb 2026 04:29:11 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36229 For more than two decades, the EU–Mercosur agreement remained out of reach—endlessly negotiated, periodically revived, and repeatedly declared dead. Since its launch in 1999, it has weathered financial crises, political…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/eu-mercosur-the-making-of-one-of-the-worlds-largest-free-trade-zones/feed/ 0 The UK’s and EU’s Net Zero policies threaten to destroy their economies in the face of Trump’s oil-led US revival at US$50-per-barrel https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/the-uks-and-eus-net-zero-policies-threaten-to-destroy-their-economies-in-the-face-of-trumps-oil-led-us-revival-at-us50-per-barrel/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-uks-and-eus-net-zero-policies-threaten-to-destroy-their-economies-in-the-face-of-trumps-oil-led-us-revival-at-us50-per-barrel https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/the-uks-and-eus-net-zero-policies-threaten-to-destroy-their-economies-in-the-face-of-trumps-oil-led-us-revival-at-us50-per-barrel/#respond Tue, 10 Feb 2026 04:46:48 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36215 Introduction The US is on the move and the geopolitical scenario has moved quickly away from the certainties of the last ten to fifteen years. Oil could come down to…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/the-uks-and-eus-net-zero-policies-threaten-to-destroy-their-economies-in-the-face-of-trumps-oil-led-us-revival-at-us50-per-barrel/feed/ 0 Venezuela Is Not a Victim of Sanctions—It’s a Victim of Its Own Policies https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/venezuela-is-not-a-victim-of-sanctions-its-a-victim-of-its-own-policies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=venezuela-is-not-a-victim-of-sanctions-its-a-victim-of-its-own-policies https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/venezuela-is-not-a-victim-of-sanctions-its-a-victim-of-its-own-policies/#respond Wed, 04 Feb 2026 05:26:01 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36217 Few economic collapses in modern history have been as dramatic, prolonged, and devastating as Venezuela’s. Once the wealthiest country in Latin America, endowed with the world’s largest proven oil reserves,…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/venezuela-is-not-a-victim-of-sanctions-its-a-victim-of-its-own-policies/feed/ 0 The UK’s November 2025 Budget and ‘Securonomics’ https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/the-uks-november-2025-budget-and-securonomics/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-uks-november-2025-budget-and-securonomics https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/the-uks-november-2025-budget-and-securonomics/#respond Wed, 28 Jan 2026 04:42:49 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36208 Introduction The UK government’s November 2025 Budget supplied ample corroboration of our report published by IREF in October 2025 (‘the report’), showing that the governing Labour Party plans to greatly…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/the-uks-november-2025-budget-and-securonomics/feed/ 0 Policy emulation and government intervention: the COVID lesson https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/policy-emulation-and-government-intervention-the-covid-lesson/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=policy-emulation-and-government-intervention-the-covid-lesson https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/policy-emulation-and-government-intervention-the-covid-lesson/#respond Fri, 23 Jan 2026 21:15:39 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36203 The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 led governments around the world to adopt an extraordinary set of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs), including lockdowns, school closures, limits on mobility, and border…

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]]> https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/policy-emulation-and-government-intervention-the-covid-lesson/feed/ 0 How America Risks Regulating Itself Out of AI Leadership https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/30-12-how-america-risks-regulating-itself-out-of-ai-leadership/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=30-12-how-america-risks-regulating-itself-out-of-ai-leadership https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/30-12-how-america-risks-regulating-itself-out-of-ai-leadership/#respond Tue, 13 Jan 2026 05:30:04 +0000 https://en.irefeurope.org/?p=36170 For decades, America’s dominance in technology has rested on a simple but powerful principle: permissionless innovation—the idea that individuals and companies are free to build and experiment without first seeking…

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