The Italian Town That’s Not in Italy (or the EU… kind of)
08 Jul 2018 Leave a comment
in international economic law, International law, law and economics Tags: economics of borders, Italy
Why are French jobs so miserable and dangerous?
13 Mar 2017 Leave a comment
in labour economics Tags: British economy, compensating differentials, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy
Tertiary educational attainment, 2000 and 2014, USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Australia
24 Jul 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of education, human capital, labour economics Tags: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, tertiary educational attainment.
The British, Australians, and Italians experienced strong growth in tertiary attainment since the year 2000. In the case of the Italians, it was from a low base. There is still a big difference in tertiary attainment between English-speaking and other countries.
Source: OECD Factbook 2015-2016.
General government net financial liabilities as % Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Irish GDPs
03 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, economic growth, economic history, Euro crisis, financial economics, fiscal policy, global financial crisis (GFC), macroeconomics Tags: Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, public debt management, sovereign debt crises, sovereign defaults, Spain
I had borrowed a lot of money from scratch after 2007. Greece borrowed a lot of money of its own accord from 2010. Italy always owed a lot of money. Spanish do not know all that much money considering their dire financial circumstances.
Source: OECD Economic Outlook June 2016 Data extracted on 01 Jun 2016 12:57 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat
Waiting for the permits to come in: business start-up fees and lost output waiting in Europe and North America
09 May 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, law and economics Tags: barriers to entry, Belgium, British economy, Canada, cost of doing business, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain
Expediting the processing of permits can actually make quite a difference to firm start-up costs even in countries with few barriers to starting up a business.
Source: Markus Poschke (2011) Entry regulation: Still costly | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal.
Note: The value of time is set to a business day’s output per day of waiting time at 22 business days per month.
The renewable energy curse – does corruption turn clean energy into dirty? @GarethMP
30 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: European Union, expressive voting, green rent seeking, Italy, renewable energy, solar power, wind power
Massimo Tavoni and Caterina Gennaioli published a nice paper showing that corruption and violence was higher in the high wind provinces of Italy after the installation of wind generators. They built on earlier work about countries with abundant renewable resources and weak institutions. The main question in their paper
… is whether an increase in the expected returns of investments in wind energy, following the introduction of the new policy regime based on a green certificate system, has driven economic agents, namely bureaucrats and entrepreneurs, to engage more in rent seeking activities.
As they studied Italy, there is no surprise about the answer which was yes. High winds ensure high returns of the wind farm investment, but whether this translates into more bribery depends on institutional quality. There was more corruption, and so especially in high-wind provinces of Italy.
Source: Green policy and corruption | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal.
The construction of an average wind park is associated with an increase of criminal association activity of 6%. Italy will have more corruption than elsewhere in the old European Union.
The wider problem is renewable energy is a celebrity technology. In the context of expressive politics, so many cheer for solar and wind power that standards drop in terms of who qualifies for subsidies and who should lose support when their investments do not turn out as promised.
https://twitter.com/CountCarbon/status/715136022414299138
Wind power is not new, it is intermittent, is unsuitable for modern work, and is land constrained but it is still subsidised. Green rent seeking is a real risk even in countries with the best political institutions.
The cost of starting a business in Europe and North America
18 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights Tags: barriers to entry, Belgium, British economy, Canada, Denmark, doing business, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain
These measures including the full cost of starting a business. Not only are official fees included, the opportunity cost of the waiting times for various permits are issued are added as well.
Source: Markus Poschke, Entry regulation: Still costly | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal (2011).
Note: The value of time is set to a business day’s output per day of waiting time at 22 business days per month.
Effective marginal tax rates on single and dual earner families in the USA, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand
05 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of love and marriage, fiscal policy, gender, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Denmark, effective marginal tax rates, family tax benefits, family tax credits, France, Germany, in-work tax credits, Italy, poverty traps, rational irrationality, social insurance, Sweden, taxation and labour supply
Some countries including New Zealand and Australia do not give ordinary families much of an incentive to earn more. Effective marginal tax rates on low income families is one of the few times that the Left discovers supply-side economics.
Source: Taxing Wages 2015 – OECD 2015.
Income tax plus employee Social Security contributions less tax benefits by family structure in the US, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Denmark, France, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand
05 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Denmark, family taxation, France, Germany, Italy, social insurance, Sweden, taxation and labour supply
Those sensitive and caring northern European welfare states do tax families rather heavily even after accounting for family cash benefits.
Source: Taxing Wages 2015 – OECD 2015.
Income tax plus employee contributions less cash benefits as % of earnings by family type in USA, Britain, Canada, Sweden, France, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Australia and New Zealand
04 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, social insurance, Social Security, Sweden, taxation and labour supply
Those much admired northern European welfare states tax families and individuals much more than do the Anglo-Saxon welfare states.
Source: Taxing Wages 2015 – OECD 2015.
Income tax and social security contributions as a percentage of gross wage earnings in the USA, Britain, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Italy, France, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand
04 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, social insurance, Social Security, Sweden, taxation and labour supply
Source: Taxing Wages 2015 – OECD 2015.
Income tax plus employee and employer social security contributions as % of labour costs in US, Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Sweden and Denmark
03 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in fiscal policy, public economics Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, social insurance, Social Security, Sweden, taxation and labour supply
Social Security contributions as a percentage of GDP in the G7 countries
03 Mar 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, public economics Tags: British economy, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, social insurance, Social Security, taxation and labour supply
Source: Revenue Statistics 2015 – OECD 2015.
How did German, Italian, French, British and American billionaires make their money?
26 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of regulation, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, survivor principle Tags: billionaires, British economy, entrepreneurial alertness, France, Germany, Italy, superstar wages, superstars
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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