Digitalisation carries a promise of growth, jobs and culture to all, but ironically, it is by and large the old analogue economy that finances the digital one
Higher state pension ages are not only possible (given longer life expectancy) and desirable (given the fiscal costs of state pensions) but later retirement should, in fact, lead to better average health in retirement.
With public confidence in the European project waning, the idea of initiating a ‘civil dialogue’ with the public emerged in the mid-1990s as a way of bolstering the EU’s democratic legitimacy. Citizens have been ventriloquised through ‘sock puppet’ charities, think tanks and other ‘civil society’ groups which have been hand-picked and financed by the European Commission (EC).
Non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade for less developed countries. They need to be brought to the forefront of the trade debate if developing countries are to move into the export of higher value added products.