Wage debates are always heated, no matter if it is an employee asking their boss for a rise, or union negotiations. Anyway, in the past year or two, the wage question became one of the leading topics of public debate in Slovakia. Thanks to political involvement, many Slovak started to believe that Slovak employers are of…
Everyone wants to fight red tape – the European Union, governments, politicians. Well, at least according to their proclamations, party programs, and numerous conferences. Yet, bureaucracy is still a burden for both entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens. One of the reasons why the political “fight” has not achieved remarkable success in fighting the red tape, is a…
In Slovakia, the minimum wage has become a political evergreen of every autumn. However, its growth has been rapidly increasing in recent years. Moreover, the former Slovak prime minister has proposed a new law, which will set the minimum wage at 60% of an average wage of the previous year (effectively t+2). This development is…
Prague, September 11, 2019 On September 10, 2019 ,the first international finale of the Economics Olympiad took place in the Czech national bank in Prague. Slovakia was excellently represented by five students from whom two reached the first two medal positions. High school students undoubtedly proved that despite reports of low financial literacy of Slovaks, there are…
INESS organized an interesting public lecture during summer season. On August 6, 2019, Dr. Sean Gabb delivered a speech on Brexit and British strategy in Bratislava. Below you can read the outline of the lecture, accompanied by the video. Dr. Sean Gabb is a vice-president at Ludwig von Mises Centre (UK) and director of School of…
None of us likes interacting with bureaucracy. Filling out documents, spending hours in queues, and arguing with officials about formal details – many comedy movies have been built around these situations. In Slovakia, one of the least popular offices is the Police Traffic Inspectorate, and, more specifically, the Vehicle Registration Department. Yes, you read it…
In Slovakia, non-monetary transfers are often forgotten due to the contributions system – this is set up so that only self-employed know, with exaggeration, how expensive it is. Most employees have no idea that the employer pays an additional 35% to their gross wage. Therefore, they do not realize the value received when the state pays…
Which healthcare system in Europe provides the best value for money? Rankings of healthcare systems are rare, and those which would rate value for money for a long time have been non-existent. Institute of Economic and Social Studies (INESS) created a brand new index called Health for Money, which rates healthcare in 26 countries, taking money…
Crumbled and scattered parcels, inaccessible fields, frauds with farming subsidies, and problems with floods and droughts – this is the reality of Slovak agriculture. Extreme fragmentation makes it impossible to use land efficiently. Chaos in the relationships between owners and tenants complicates the work of municipalities, farmers, and government agencies. On average, one parcel of…
The Economics Olympiad was launched in 2017 with a participation of 4,000 high school students. This year, the competition enjoyed even more popularity with more than 5,300 contestants overall. On April 25, 2019, the national finals of 2018/2019 Economics Olympiad took place on the premises of University of Economics in Bratislava, where 50 young talented…
Nowadays, decision-makers are driven to come up with solutions to the issue of rising obesity rate. In Slovakia, the obesity rate has doubled in last 35 years. To begin with, the tax discussed does not focus on sugar as such, rather it focuses on sweetened drinks. In their paper, IFP claims that “High sugar consumption…
Unfortunately, innovation appears also in the field of taxation. Several East European countries have been flirting with various forms of a “retailer tax”. A tax similar (but not equal) to VAT, or the sales tax. Its proclaimed aim is typically to “punish” international retail chains, who have been repeatedly blamed for problems of local farmers…
