trade

March 1, 2017

Solvency II and the CMU: Unlocking Contractual Savings’ Investment

Even though the free movement of capital has been a legislative reality in the European Union since the Treaty of Rome, the markets for most financial services and products remain largely divided.
March 1, 2017

A Freer Energy Market Can Power Europe’s Security

Recent EC proposals fail to explain how alternative energy technologies such as fracking, a deeper energy trade relationship with Europe’s biggest trading partner – the United States – and a freer internal energy market can boost the Union’s energy security strategy.
February 1, 2017

High-powered Reforms to EU Energy Policy

The achievement of efficient and secure energy supply and a clean environment do not have to be conflicting objectives. However, meeting both goals will require meaningful market-oriented reform of energy policy at the EU level.
February 1, 2017

The Taxation of High-income Earners: an International Comparison

The effective marginal tax rate is the total tax on the last euro earned, taking into account income tax as well as social contributions and consumption taxes. Considering only income taxes does not provide the whole picture of the distortionary effects of the tax system.
February 1, 2017

The Economics of Industry 4.0

Viewed over the sweep of history, concerns about technological unemployment have always proved overblown. Over the last two-hundred years, technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed and it has substantially increased labour productivity and living standards.
January 4, 2017

There’s One International System That President Trump Should Withdraw From

Following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, the European press has been presenting him as an isolationist. Under President Trump, they claim, the USA will look after itself alone and retreat from the rest of the world. Economically, international trade is finished, they allege, whilst militarily, NATO will be abandoned.
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.
December 8, 2016

The Failure of Magnette’s “Namur Declaration”

On December 5th, Paul Magnette, the current Minister-President of the French-speaking region of Wallonia, Belgium, unveiled his so-called “Namur Declaration”, a 3-page-long statement whose aim is to “radically remake” EU trade policy.
November 17, 2016

How Could the World’s Biggest Exporter Oppose Freer Trade?

On September 17th, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of several German cities to protest against both the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the draft free trade deal between the EU and the United States, and its Canadian equivalent the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which is slated to become law pending European Parliament ratification.