What is Bitcoin? What is it for? What problem does it solve? What is this “cryptocurrency” anyway? And why does humanity care about something like this? Thirteen years after its creation, Bitcoin (and along with it other cryptocurrencies) remains a mystery to the average person. Even many specialists and experts in the fields of computer science, …
More »How builders could protect themselves from drastic changes in market conditions
Author: Georgi Vassilev, attorney at law firm "Benov, Vassilev and Natskov" "Builders stop selling greenfield properties", "Because of the jump in prices, greenfield property deals are stopped", "Shock for the property market! Greenfield deals are stopped" - these and other similar headlines have abounded in the media space over the past few months. The reason for …
More »Black Johnny for Karolkata
I met Vlado ten years ago in the bar on the corner of Rakovska and Vasil Levski. He came on a motorbike and quickly asked me about pressing economic and political issues – I was in a sort of interview. Karolev was running for mayor and was looking for a campaign assistant, I was recommended to him as his …
More »How effective are Covid-19 vaccines in the UK?
The imposition of green certificates requiring vaccination for admission to certain public places has caused a severe division in Bulgarian society. For better or worse, the entire conversation “for” or “against” restrictive measures against the unvaccinated revolves precisely around the question in the title, which unfortunately is not put into a sufficiently detailed context by …
More »The Banking Union – not salvation, but a trap for Bulgarian taxpayers
October 1 marked exactly one year since Bulgaria officially joined the EU Banking Union. The accession was accompanied by great fanfare from public experts, politicians, and of course the government of Boyko Borissov himself, who in April 2020 announced Bulgaria’s accession to the ERM-II exchange rate mechanism and the Banking Union …
More »One year of Bulgaria in the Banking Union - risks and opportunities
The Banking Union creates incentives for decapitalization and destabilization of our banking system. The Banking Union would most likely not help restructure local banks. Bulgaria no longer has its own bank resolution fund. In such a situation, the cost of bank bankruptcies falls through the budget onto Bulgarian taxpayers. On October 1, 2020…
More »Bulgaria OUTSIDE the Eurozone: between misconceptions and facts
About a month ago, the Bulgarian online media outlet “Factcheck.bg” published an article with the following title: “Bulgaria in the Eurozone: Between Misconceptions and Facts”. Under the guise of combating disinformation, the author of the article, Yordan Barzakov, claims to be debunking “myths” about the “negatives of eurozone membership”. The introductory paragraph of the text is eloquent: “The closer it gets …
More »Electricity prices - it's not RES and the Americans who are to blame, but our anti-market isolation
The Bulgarian Energy Exchange closed at a day-ahead baseload price of BGN 285.10 per MWh. The peak energy price has again come close to the shock values of BGN 330 per MWh from a few days ago. For comparison, the price on Western exchanges is significantly lower – 99 euros in France and 100 …
More »Six arguments against the national plan for introducing the euro
My position against the adoption of the euro and the corresponding national plan is based on the following main arguments. 1. Keeping the national currency does not mean a worse economy. Sweden is a good example of this. - Sweden's economic growth since 2003 has been between 1.5% and 3%, i.e. higher than that of the eurozone. …
More »Opinion of EKIP on the national euro adoption plan
OPINION From: Expert Club for Economics and Politics (EKIP) Subject: Draft National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, In connection with the published draft National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria (Plan), we express the following opinion on behalf of the Expert Club …
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EKIP– Expert Club for Economics and Politics A Different Opinion