Briefings

January 1, 2017

The Solution to the Spanish Pension System

It is increasingly evident that public pensions are going to be hard to sustain in the future: the ratio of workers to pensioners is close to a historical low. The crisis has taken nearly two million contributors out of the system, and adds to another variable that proves a greater challenge and is even more difficult to reverse: demographics.
January 1, 2017

The Past and Future of European Federalism: Spinelli VS. Hayek

The year 2017 will mark the sixty-year anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. On this occasion, the European project will receive a thorough check-up, and important decisions will be made that will decide whether and in what form it survives.
November 1, 2016

Google Shopping: the Arguments Revisited

The arguments on which the various competition cases against Google are being fought involve core features of economic interaction in multi-sided digital markets. As such, the final outcome will have a long-standing impact on platform innovation in the EU.
November 1, 2016

Last Call for TTIP

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is currently in a negotiatory limbo. Even though the European Commission has estimated such an agreement would increase the size of the EU economy by at least €120 billion (or 0.5% of EU GDP) and the U.S economy by €95 billion (roughly 0.4% of U.S GDP), the deal looks more uncertain than ever before.
November 1, 2016

Living on Credit

November 30 marks Credit Day across the European Union. Credit Day is the day when member states’ central administrations exhaust their annual tax revenues and have to begin borrowing in order to meet their spending commitments for the rest of the year.
October 1, 2016

Innovation in Regulatory Approaches

An important part of the digital platform revolution is the sharing economy, which is based on reductions in transaction costs which enable exchanges that were previously not possible. Sharing economy firms facilitate a more efficient use of assets, to the benefit of both asset owners and prospective users.
October 1, 2016

Innovation in Food Labelling

According the European Commission, a Geographical Indication (GI) is “a distinctive sign used to identify a product as originating in the territory of a particular country, region or locality where its quality, reputation or other characteristic is linked to its geographical origin.” Under the system of GIs, the European Union has protected over 3,300 food and wine names with, as of 2010, an estimated value of €54.3 billion.
October 1, 2016

Innovation in Harm Reduction

Scientific research has made important breakthroughs in harm reduction in recent years. In the field of alcohol consumption, safer and healthier options are being developed, whereas in the area of nicotine delivery, e-cigarettes have been shown to significantly mitigate adverse health effects associated with smoking.
October 1, 2016

Innovation in Agriculture

Population growth, natural resource scarcity and climate change will challenge agriculture to deliver food security in the coming decades. Innovative practices to address these challenges exist, they are hampered by complex legislation and perverse incentives.

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EPICENTER publications and contributions from our member think tanks are designed to promote the discussion of economic issues and the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. As with all EPICENTER publications, the views expressed here are those of the author and not EPICENTER or its member think tanks (which have no corporate view).

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EPICENTER publications and contributions from our member think tanks are designed to promote the discussion of economic issues and the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. As with all EPICENTER publications, the views expressed here are those of the author and not EPICENTER or its member think tanks (which have no corporate view).