regulation

July 1, 2020

“Next Generation EU” Spending Plan: Towards Strengthening or Weakening the EU in the Long Run?

While the media, right and left-wing parties and the average newspaper reader celebrate in anticipation of “helicopter money” from Brussels, or otherwise the so-called “Next Generation EU”, classical liberals wonder where all this money will come from while worrying about the potential impact on future generations.
June 29, 2020

The End of the Liberal International Order

If there seems to be any consensus among academics it is that the dominant Western liberal international order is coming to an end. With the arrival of Trump and the rise of China we must ask ourselves: which international order comes next?
June 23, 2020

The Issue at Stake Was Not to Choose Between Lives and the Economy

We often hear that managing a crisis like coronavirus depends on societal choices. The choice would be to save lives or economies. Health and economic data show that reality is much more complex than this simplification of the dilemma. Some countries have managed to accommodate both. Others, like France, have registered both a high mortality rate and a significant economic setback.
June 19, 2020

The Fake American Stimulation: an Economic Analysis of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (Cares) Act

We almost pity American federal and state elected officials for having to deal with the situation caused by COVID-19. Overnight, social media users have become self-proclaimed epidemiologists, but it remains difficult to judge whether the measures taken by states and the federal government are too little too late or the right response to a health crisis. In some ways, it is tempting to favour the federal responses to the economic crisis as the circumstances are unlike those of previous crises.
June 11, 2020

Can ‘Profiteering’ Ever Be Justified?

Given that even ‘profit’ now seems to be dirty word, it is no surprise that being accused of ‘profiteering’ during a crisis is about as bad as it can get. But there are some circumstances when an increase in prices in response to exceptional demand can actually be a good thing.
June 3, 2020

No Relocation Without Tax and Regulatory Relief

French inadequacies in the face of the COVID-19 crisis are giving rise to a fully fledged attack on globalisation. We are observing an increase in speeches aimed at regaining sovereignty, particularly in the field of health. But the challenge for France is, above all, to address its internal weaknesses.
May 5, 2020

The Problems of Financing Through European Mechanisms

There has been a great deal of debate recently – not just in the media, but also in academia and among economic analysts – about the availability and desirability of various financial instruments to deal with the fallout from the Corona crisis, especially for some of the worst-hit nations such as Spain or Italy.