growth

April 15, 2020

Could ‘Lombardy Bonds’ Be the Answer to the Eurozone Debt Puzzle?

At the last Eurogroup meeting, Eurozone finance ministers agreed to set up a ‘Recovery Fund’ to help trigger an economic rebound once the lockdowns are over. But the vexed question of whether some shared ‘European’ debt should be issued has not been solved.
April 11, 2020

Why Do Germany and the Netherlands Oppose Coronabonds?

In recent weeks, the global impact of the coronavirus has brought a huge number of new questions to the fore. For the time being many remain unanswered but, as often happens, in some cases a lack of answers in itself can direct us towards the heart of the problem.
March 31, 2020

What the EU Can Learn From Swiss and Scandinavian Carbon Tax Policies

The EU has established a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions through a €1tn European Green Deal. It aims to make the entire bloc carbon neutral by 2050. It includes a measure that, until now, has been considered too unwieldy, provocative, and legally troublesome for any nation to adopt: a carbon border tax.
March 24, 2020

Coronavirus is Not the End of Globalisation

The outbreak of the new coronavirus COVID-19 has been described as a threat to globalisation. But spreading risk across the world is essential in order to make businesses and societies less fragile. This is not the end of globalisation, but the beginning of a new chapter.
March 16, 2020

Is the European Commission to Blame for the Absence of European Champions?

Following the veto of the Alstom-Siemens merger, the European Commission has been criticised for preventing the creation of “European champions” of comparable size to those emerging from the United States in the digital field or China in the industrial field.
March 11, 2020

The Pursuit of a More Popular EU May Be a Risky and Hazardous Business

Britain has left the EU. Politicians in Brussels and Member States are seeking a mission for The Union that has broad public appeal in order to gain support from populist tendencies instead of becoming the victim of them.
March 11, 2020

Giving the EU-GCC Trade Relations a Chance

Oman started 2020 off on the right foot when it comes to economic freedom. Only a few days before Sultan Qaboos passed away on January 10th, a new Foreign Capital Investment Law (FCIL) came into force to visibly lower barriers to foreign investment in the Sultanate.