Questions tagged [economy]
Questions relating to the politics of economic theory or economic policy of any country or the international community. General economic questions can be asked on Economics.SE https://economics.stackexchange.com/
365
questions
4
votes
2answers
257 views
Is there a “healthy” value / interval for unemployment rate?
A TV show depicting US politics features a fictitious big political program called AmericaWorks or AmWorks. Its goal is to greatly reduce unemployment (virtually to zero or "Universal Employment"). Of ...
1
vote
0answers
53 views
What is the rationale of capping interbanking rates to values significantly lower than inflation rate?
Romania’s finance ministry announced some sort of "tax on greed" for banking sector:
Romania’s finance ministry plans to introduce a tax on banking assets
from 2019, seeking to cap the interbank ...
10
votes
4answers
887 views
Is there any better estimate of the cost of a completed US-Mexico border wall?
First, I realize that this question was asked back in Jan 2017, but it was difficult to obtain useful data because the details of construction were not available.
This question arises as a spin-off ...
2
votes
1answer
151 views
Did the New Economic Policy ever end?
Migrate to history as needed.
The USSR was a Neoliberal Social welfare state. It privatized everything under Lenin. I just wonder to what extent this mattered. What percentage of the firms privatized ...
2
votes
3answers
236 views
Why doesn't the EU collectively establish taxation based on profits gained in a country?
As I understand it, the problem with corporations taxation is there are international agreements countries would not tax products in the country where the enterprise isn't registered.
So wouldn't it ...
1
vote
1answer
143 views
Why doesn’t China negotiate trade deals with each state in US?
Say, let each state send representatives to bid for import quota of specific categories of merchandises, therefore making intra-US cooperation among states into inter-state competition; just like how ...
39
votes
6answers
12k views
Why does Spain's government want to increase the minimum wage by such a large percentage at once?
According to the BBC, Spain wants to increase the minimum wage by more than 20%:
Spain's minimum wage will jump by 22% in 2019 - the largest annual
increase in more than 40 years.
It means ...
8
votes
1answer
337 views
Why does the Hungarian government want to allow delaying payment for overtime for such a long time (up to three years)?
Protests have broken out in Hungary following the government's desire to increase the overtime limit and payment timeframe for this:
Protests have broken out in Hungary after the country's ...
12
votes
2answers
354 views
Why doesn’t the U.S. have a bracketed corporate tax?
This might be a question better-suited for Economics StackExchange, but I figured I'd try my luck here first.
In the U.S. we have a bracketed tax system for personal income tax, which serves to ...
5
votes
1answer
280 views
What were the positive and negative effects of the French ISF?
The Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune (ISF, or wealth solidarity tax), is easily the most controversial part of French tax policy, and its removal by Emmanuel Macron was probably the most ...
5
votes
1answer
4k views
What are the reasons presented by the French government to explain why the price of diesel fuel increased so much in France?
Many media channels are covering the "fuel protests". According to BBC, the main reason behind these protests is fuel (especially diesel) prices raising:
The price of diesel, the most commonly used ...
-1
votes
1answer
84 views
Causes of a sovereign debt crisis?
What are the causes of a sovereign debt crisis? How can countries get out of a sovereign debt crisis?
31
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21answers
14k views
How does Capitalism facilitate happiness? [closed]
I would like to preface this with the disclaimer that I am fresh to Stack Exchange, so any pointers on what may have been a better Stack for my question, or simply how to better frame it, are greatly ...
33
votes
5answers
11k views
If the eurozone budget deficit limit is 3%, why is the European Commission telling Italy it must revise its 2.4% deficit budget?
The BBC reports that the European Commission has told Italy to revise its budget, saying that the draft presents particularly serious non-compliance with Eurozone rules. Yet the maximum permitted ...
1
vote
1answer
204 views
Why is Italy pushing its budget?
Why is the Italian government trying to push its budget, which would make their national debt skyrocket even further, while the Italian Audit Office says it's a bad idea and the EU isn't too keen on ...
5
votes
2answers
774 views
Why is the concept of Trickle Down economics still popular with US conservatives? [closed]
US conservatives seem to still believe in the concept of 'Trickle Down Economics', while it has shown very limited results in the past and if anything, it only made the rich richer and the poor poorer....
7
votes
5answers
2k views
What are the arguments for and against a flat income tax rate?
Let's say that the national income tax is 5% for everyone with no loopholes (i.e. no tax reduction). In theory the rich would contribute more to total tax revenue.
What are the arguments for and ...
1
vote
1answer
237 views
What possible laws have been proposed to modify limited liability of corporations?
I wonder if there’s a workable tweak to the limited liability of shareholders that would make it less profitable for those who wish to indirectly indicate to their flunkie ceos that they better cut ...
1
vote
2answers
232 views
Can't a country grow its GDP without foreign investment?
Whenever various developing countries around the world talk about growing their economies, they talk about facilitating foreign investments and they put so much emphasis on it as if a country's ...
6
votes
1answer
339 views
How were farmers affected by demonetization in India?
In 2016, The India government declared ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series invalid. This announcement led to significant economic disruption. It is said that farmers were affected ...
0
votes
2answers
665 views
Hypothesis: “globalization makes a ”strong“ economy the hostage of its own success?”
What do you think about the hypothesis that globalization makes a "strong" economy the hostage of its own success?
What do I mean by that?.
Two countries deal with each other for a long time.
One of ...
-5
votes
3answers
270 views
Examples of European political parties/movements that put emphasis on science and technology and why so few? [closed]
The US Transhumanist party is small party that put emphasis on science and technology for fulfilling the aspirations of humanity. Indeed - there are very, very few limits in science. E.g. inertial ...
0
votes
1answer
220 views
Is Belt and Road Initiative cost-effective?
Does the geopolitical advantage of China's Belt and Road Initiative outweigh the financial costs of the loans? Would the loan be better spent internally or kept unused?
1
vote
1answer
91 views
How is innovation measured in private-public partnerships?
It is great that governments invest in innovation and research.
Specifically in research done by private public partnerships, they do a lot of controlling to track budget, but how do they measure the ...
2
votes
1answer
78 views
For a provincial election, how long after the voting are the results given out in Canada?
What are the timings for provincial elections in Canada. If the elections conclude at say, 7pm today, when will the results be declared?
And how long after the results do the winning candidates ...
14
votes
5answers
10k views
Is Venezuela an example of socialism?
I've been hearing a lot about Venezuela in the news lately. And it seems there is a big debate over whether it was socialism or not, or whether it was implemented properly.
Is it safe to assume that ...
5
votes
5answers
615 views
How long would it take to pay off the U.S. national debt if new deficits were eliminated?
If Congress stopped borrowing money, how long would it take to pay off the national debt?
My question assumes—perhaps incorrectly?—that every dollar the Federal government owes must be paid back on ...
51
votes
4answers
18k views
Why has Venezuela's economy collapsed when Cuba's has not?
Cuba and Venezuela seem to share a lot in common. Both are effectively Socialist dictatorships. Cuba's government has been Communist for many years, while Venezuela has been socialist for much less. ...
9
votes
1answer
200 views
Land reform in Guatemala
Recently, after attending to a conference with some Guatemalan politicians, I began to take interest in this country's socio-economical issues, in particular with regard to land.
I that in the 1950s ...
2
votes
2answers
232 views
Is anti-corruption initiative 'sometimes' detrimental to the economy? [closed]
Can it ever happen that an anti-corruption drive which leads to government action becomes detrimental to the economy?
Is there any example?
8
votes
3answers
287 views
Does tax amnesty have any benefit except for potentially uncovering undeclared wealth?
Reading the Wikipedia article about the tax amnesty, my understanding is that the main benefit of a tax amnesty is to encourage individuals to declare their wealth:
Introduction of Amnesty scheme ...
9
votes
2answers
313 views
Is the public generally aware of lagged effects of economic policies?
New governments attributing to themselves economic success without paying any respect to lagged effects of economic policies of previous governments are probably as old as politics. (Exactly the same ...
22
votes
3answers
6k views
Did Germany profit from the (third) Greek bailout?
From an article published in June 2018 on thelocal.de:
Berlin has been one of the main lenders to Greece during its debt crisis. While conservative parties warned that supporting Greece would come ...
2
votes
0answers
85 views
What's the German or EU view on the definition of currency manipulation?
The US has a statutory definition of currency manipulation; while some US economists don't quite agree with the legal definition, nevertheless the topic is fairly widely discussed in the US in ...
2
votes
2answers
276 views
Did the Greek economy contract more than Syria's in the past decade?
From a BBC article:
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), only four countries have shrunk economically more than Greece in the past decade: Yemen, Libya, Venezuela and Equatorial ...
4
votes
4answers
823 views
How come no bank chiefs in the US & UK went to prison for the financial crash of 2008?
This story by Forbes points that the only bank chiefs in the financial crisis that engulfed the Western world in 2007/8 were from Iceland:
This is where the worlds only bank chiefs imprisoned in ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Why is Turkish Lira sliding?
What is the fundamental reason that Turkish Lira is tumbling down during the last few months?
Kindly, explain in layman's terms and in short.
6
votes
1answer
220 views
“Everything But Arms” and migrants
A common trope in Europe is that the European Union, by means of exploitation and stiff tariffs, keeps the African economy down, thereby forcing economic migrants to leave home for Europe.
However, ...
8
votes
4answers
2k views
Why couldn't Russia grow its economy as fast as China did?
Russia has a population comparable to Japan. But, the size of its GDP is below South Korea.
Why couldn't Russia grow its economy as fast as China did?
What factors prevented Russia from becoming an ...
6
votes
1answer
461 views
Did IMF grant a loan with no (reform) conditions to Romania in 2009?
I've been looking at some of the more recent IMF loans and the Wikipedia description of the one given to Romania appears to imply no reform conditions were attached to the loan:
While in January ...
5
votes
1answer
710 views
Why do countries almost always oppose IMF's proposed reforms?
Dhaka to oppose reforms to IMF debt limits policy
Mugabe dumps IMF reforms, vows to keep price control
Greece opposed to IMF demands on labor reforms
Between a rock and a hard place: Tunisia and the ...
1
vote
1answer
109 views
Do any states within the U.S. plan to introduce legislation which would enable a deduction similar to the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction?
I understand that the Qualified Business Income deduction, introduced into law by the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017, is applicable at the federal level as a 20% deduction of qualified business income ...
9
votes
5answers
2k views
Is there a stated goal in the US “Trade War”?
I'll call it a Trade War, because I don't know that there is a more appropriate phrase.
Initially I understood the administration's goal was to stimulate US producers to be more productive, so as to ...
2
votes
2answers
363 views
Where can I find a scatter plot of welfare spending vs. immigrant rate?
Where can I find a scatter plot of welfare spending (per capita, % of spending, or % of GDP) vs. immigrant rate (per capita, or % of population)? By state or by country would be fine. I tried to ...
6
votes
3answers
972 views
Any problems with zero corporate income tax?
Larry Kudlow (who is currently Trump's National Economic Council director) had proposed in 2014 zero corporate income tax, arguing that
Readers know that corporate tax reform is my single-favorite ...
-4
votes
1answer
377 views
Why don't people who are upset about economic inequality donate to the poor?
The middle-class American often moans about economic inequality, but there's another aspect to the same issue as well: yes, the middle-class American makes far less than Donald Trump or Bill Gates, ...
5
votes
4answers
2k views
How to avoid the “race to the bottom”?
When talking about "trickle-down economics" (or supply-side economics, to use the correct, but lesser known term), one of the main criticism points is that it may work when only a few countries ...
6
votes
2answers
351 views
Macron's “lead climbers” (vs. trickle down)
Are there more details on Macron's vision of how tax cuts will positively affect (French) society? I found a story from last year his rejection of the well-known “trickle-down” economics narrative, ...
0
votes
1answer
156 views
Which position in Russia is more powerful in the field of economy?
Which position in Russia is more powerful in the field of the economy:
Chairman of the Accounts Chamber
Minister of Finance
and why?
9
votes
1answer
147 views
Are counter-tariffs to the Trump tariffs going through the WTO?
Under WTO rules there is a dispute settlement process which WTO member states are expected to go through to settle trade disputes.
Trump has sidestepped this process by declaring the steel and ...
