free market

September 1, 2019

The Nanny State Index 2019

The Epicenter Nanny State Index is a league table of the best and worst places in the European Union to eat, drink, smoke and vape. Finland tops the table as the least free country. Germany is the freest country.
February 26, 2019

Better Regulation: Risks, Markets, Responsibility

A popular explanation for economic scandals, crises and suboptimal market outcomes is the lack of government regulation. This interpretation is intensively promoted by the promoters of a “bridled” market and by the communication departments of the respective administrations: only the supervision and control of the market economy by the bureaucratic state would ensure the integrity of economic actors. This would even apply to competition, which would allegedly be endangered without a dedicated authority.
October 1, 2018

Regulating the New Media Economy

The new media economy operates differently from other industries when it comes to regulation. The marginal costs of technological giants mean that their interactions are distinct from other industries where governments try to prevent cartels from occurring.
January 1, 2018

How the Municipal VAT Exemptions Promote Tax Increases in the EU

As a general rule, local governments are exempt from VAT in the EU. Thus, VAT is not payable on the tax-financed consumption of municipalities and other local governments, at least when the services are produced in-house.
December 1, 2017

Credit Day: Debt and Deficit in a Bipolar EU

6 December marks Credit Day across the European Union. This is the day when, on average, European countries’ central administrations will exhaust their annual tax revenue and start living on credit to meet their spending commitments, according to a study by the Institut Economique Molinari.
December 1, 2017

2017 Index of Liberalisations: a Summary

The 2017 IBL Index of Liberalisations aims to shed light on the degree of openness of the 28 Member States by examining ten different economic sectors. First published in 2007, the Index began classifying all of the 28 EU Member States in 2015.
December 1, 2017

Extreme Disparity in European Labour Markets: an Employment Flexibility Index

The recent Employment Flexibility Index uses data provided by the World Bank’s Doing Business Labour Market Regulation Questionnaire to compare labour market regulations.
October 1, 2017

The Consequences of Restricting the Posted Workers Directive

Posted workers are temporarily sent from one member state to another, usually for projects of short duration. There were 1.1. million posted workers in the EU in 2015, equivalent to 0.4 per cent of all full-time employment.