The nations of the world are like men in their state of nature. They are neither perfectly good nor can they be controlled by law. - Kenneth Waltz from Man, the State and War, 1954
More »2013
Why do European standards remain a mirage? (Part 1)
The recession in Bulgaria and the subsequent stagnation clearly highlighted the problems of the economy, which remained in the shadow of the strong growth at the beginning of the century. In the midst of political debates and promises, however, populism and social policy were the ones that reached their peak, and constructive solutions seemed to be lacking again. In this context, the catching up of …
More »Guest article: Uncle Sam points the finger at us*
The leader of the far-right British Independence Party, Nigel Farage, became a Roma king for a day. The realization of his worst dreams actually turned out to be a seemingly quite exotic and emotional experience for him in the capital's Fakulteta district, in the company of Tsvetelin Kanchev and a cocktail of songs by the sweet-singing gypsy pavarotti - Jago.
More »Six thoughts about matriculation exams
Today is the Bulgarian language matriculation exam. It is a good time to mention their pros and cons: 1. Under certain circumstances, matriculation exams could serve as a benchmark for the quality of public education. The problem is that the complexity and content of the tests change every year and the grades on them are almost …
More »The influence of economic indicators - CPI
The series of articles aimed at explaining commonly used macroeconomic indicators continues. In the previous one, I explained what the gross domestic product (GDP) measures and what its shortcomings are. Now it's time for another frequently used macroeconomic indicator - the consumer price index (CPI).
More »When will informed critics of the free market come?
Offnews published an article by Petar Georgiev (better known under his pseudonym Volgin), which claims to reveal the origins of “neoliberalism” and expose unsavory facts about this philosophical movement. Leaving aside the fact that neoliberalism means something different to every self-appointed critic, in this case it is used synonymously with libertarianism, …
More »Guest article: How much will we pay to political parties in the new parliament?
In the days following the parliamentary elections, the public debate focused on two main topics – the distribution of parliamentary seats and the possible coalition of the four parliamentary parties, and the scandal surrounding the printed ballots. These two topics successfully displaced one of the interesting leitmotifs of the election campaigns – the financing of political parties …
More »New election manipulation. So what?
Amidst the rising cacophony, the question remained somehow unasked: “So what?” How exactly does yesterday's incident differ from the trivial practice we witness in all elections, with the exception perhaps of our amateurism?
More »How to (not) vote. Elections to extend the transition
Tomorrow, Bulgarians will have the unique opportunity to choose who will not reform the health, pension and education systems; who will redistribute part of their wealth; who will support one or another monopoly and who will worsen the state of the economy. In other words - tomorrow, Bulgarians will vote to preserve the status quo.
More »Poverty Index in Bulgaria
The Indesk, developed by Steve Hanke
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EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion