Economy

|Full text of the analysis| The purpose of this analysis is to review and assess a specific part of the "Action Plan with measures addressing the main problem areas hindering the growth of investments", adopted by the Council of Ministers with the latest revision in 2019. And more precisely, a measure from this plan, relating to ...

| Full text of the analysis | According to data from the European Commission, Bulgaria ranks first in the number of smokers in the European Union. Despite a small decline in recent years, about 40% of the population still uses tobacco products. The socio-health and economic costs associated with their use are increasing annually, despite attempts to limit them …

Congratulations on your new (quasi-)state bank. At least 1/4 of it. As of yesterday, FIB is already practically 26% owned by the Republic of Bulgaria. In 2 weeks it will become official. The pornographic story has been played out, in which the former financial chief of FIB is appointed governor of the state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank, in order to pour …

Author: Yaroslav Romanchuk, original publication from 14.04.2020 The global coronavirus epidemic has significantly accelerated the crisis trends of the modern world. The monetary and fiscal policy measures proposed by international organizations (IMF, World Bank, OECD, UN) and G7 governments after emerging from the global recession of 2008-2009 had a short-term positive effect …

Last week, the WHO (World Health Organization) showed data showing that Bulgaria tops the charts for early onset of psychoactive substance use such as cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, and even early initiation of sexual activity. Rarely does our country have the “honor” of being at the top of something, and this usually happens…

Author: Yaroslav Romanchuk, original publication from 14.04.2020 The world economy is once again threatened by an unprecedented global recession, unemployment of 1.3 billion people in the world, a debt crisis, budget holes, defaults and other scourges of the multi-layered systemic crisis. “A crisis like no other” – said IMF President Kristalina Georgieva …

Last week, the government announced its intention to create a state-owned gas station that would sell fuel at low prices. The brilliant idea immediately made the rounds in all the media, with comments on the subject being a mixture of mockery and genuine bewilderment. And rightly so. It’s hard to fathom who would think this was a good …

Let’s start with an important clarification. The purpose of this article is to refute some of the main arguments against the planned reduction of VAT from 20% to 9% specifically for the restaurant sector, which was announced by Prime Minister Borisov this week. The purpose is not to defend proposed VAT cuts for other …

The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe has created one of the most serious problems for both the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank in their entire history. This happened with a decision examining the legality of the ECB’s main asset purchase program, or so-called quantitative easing, called the Public Sector Purchase Programme …

Recently, the prophecies that capitalism is going away have become more and more frequent. One of the most profound researchers of capitalism is Adam Smith. Therefore, it is worth checking to what extent his ideas are accepted and/or rejected by Bulgarians. This is how we will assess whether he, and with him capitalism, are going away from Bulgaria? Adam Smith (1723-1790) is …