69
votes
Why do some European governments still consider price capping despite the fact that price caps lead to shortages?
First of all, this is one of the many situations where we have to remember that the Econ101-explanations are based on assumptions that are never going to be satisfied in reality. There rarely is an &...
- 11.8k
46
votes
Why do some European governments still consider price capping despite the fact that price caps lead to shortages?
You may be confused by the economics definition of a "shortage", which is when "the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied" which means people would like to spend more ...
- 1,969
25
votes
Accepted
Are there countries in Europe where there's a 10% (or similar, but low) numeric threshold for minority language rights?
In North Macedonia, Amendment V to the Constitution - passed in 2001 after the signing of the Ohrid Agreement between the government and the Albanian minority - enshrines the status of 'official ...
CDJB♦
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16
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Why do some European governments still consider price capping despite the fact that price caps lead to shortages?
In addition to other answers:
First, "Economics 101" does not speak about times. If Hungary imports all of its oil through a single pipeline and the pipeline is shut, increasing prices will ...
- 30.5k
14
votes
Accepted
Why do some European governments still consider price capping despite the fact that price caps lead to shortages?
There is a multitude of reasons why politicians may argue for price caps:
Populism
Plain and simple: politicians want to be re-elected. Giving the impression of caring about common people is much more ...
- 2,585
11
votes
Are there countries in Europe where there's a 10% (or similar, but low) numeric threshold for minority language rights?
finland
Swedish is an official language in Finland but only spoken as only language by about 5% of the population. Swedish does have a strong legal status as all services need to be available in ...
- 211
10
votes
Why do some European governments still consider price capping despite the fact that price caps lead to shortages?
In general, if applying first-order Econ 101 principles would suggest that a policy is a bad idea, the policy should be presumed to be a bad idea unless there are particular reasons to expect other ...
- 931
10
votes
Accepted
Is it unusual for a host country to inform a foreign politician about sensitive topics to be avoid in their speech?
I don't think there's too much information about that, as that's the kind of diplomacy that's usually not happening in public.
Though, yes, you would expect that it is your own diplomatic corps that ...
- 3,596
9
votes
Why do some European governments still consider price capping despite the fact that price caps lead to shortages?
The reason that econ-101 type reasoning does not give the right answer is because the conditions for it applying do not obtain. This is a fact that has been well known since at least Hayek's Road to ...
- 1,600
6
votes
By which reasoning is Birmingham "the largest local authority in Europe"?
This is a somewhat ill-formed title (rather like world's busiest airport or world's most powerful car) since different definitions can be used for "local authority" (indeed the UK uses this ...
- 21.1k
6
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Why do some European governments still consider price capping despite the fact that price caps lead to shortages?
In this particular case the true reason is that...
Talk is cheap
Intervention to achieve price reductions on basic foodstuffs is
gaining political momentum as calls for uniform national measures to
...
- 51.3k
6
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Are there countries in Europe where there's a 10% (or similar, but low) numeric threshold for minority language rights?
If we are talking about Russian Federation, there is no threshold, but there are all kinds of territories with recognized minorities and their languages:
Adygea has just one quarter population who is ...
- 12.5k
5
votes
Are there countries in Europe where there's a 10% (or similar, but low) numeric threshold for minority language rights?
belgium has 3 official languages and although Germanophones just constitute 1% of the population (I.E. native language speakers), 22% of the country went through the effort of learning it as their 2nd ...
- 151
5
votes
Are there countries in Europe where there's a 10% (or similar, but low) numeric threshold for minority language rights?
Welsh is only spoken by around 1.3% of the UK population, and that's very generous estimate. Yet in Wales all road signs and government services are bilingual, despite only about a third of all people ...
- 935
4
votes
What did Putin mean by "We have [...] withdrawn almost all large and heavy weapons from the European part of Russia" in a 2008 interview?
He was just making propaganda statements. These do not look like some very light weapons:
The SS-21 units are deployed mainly in western Russia and the Far East. In Kaliningrad, the 152 nd Missile ...
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4
votes
Pension reforms. Why is the debate constrained to raising the retirement age or not, with no intermediate solutions?
To quote some World Bank slides:
Pension Reform Policy Options:
Refinancing:
Increase payroll tax base or rate
Add additional earmarked revenues or general taxes
Retrenchment:
Reduce benefits (e....
- 133k
3
votes
Why have European regions with strong desires for independence not been allowed to have either local parliaments or referendums?
Regarding Germany:
Bavaria has a regional parliament. It is one of sixteen federal states.
The largest regional party, the Christian-Social Union, is happy to wield an outsized influence over federal ...
- 104k
3
votes
Are there countries in Europe where there's a 10% (or similar, but low) numeric threshold for minority language rights?
united-states
As hszmv says in their answer, the United States has no official language and uses English in practice.
However, Executive Order 13166 signed in 1990 requires Federal agencies to ensure ...
- 198
3
votes
Why is the left/right spectrum defined so ambiguously? (Europe)
The general left right spectrum has it's origin in the sitting order of the French Parliament after the revolution and the abstraction from that is roughly around social hierarchies. So if you are in ...
- 3,596
3
votes
What is the actual cost and human load (short and long term cost) of immigration across EU countries?
Though it only covers Denmark, that's presumably one of easier to understand calculations:
Yes, while locals (or other Europeans) are drain of state resources when they are kids or retirees, they ...
- 5,896
3
votes
Accepted
What is the actual cost and human load (short and long term cost) of immigration across EU countries?
The way you put your question is missing the point.
Currently many migrants who get into boats to cross the Med are picked up at sea and transported back to Africa, where they are put into camps with ...
- 104k
3
votes
Are there countries in Europe where there's a 10% (or similar, but low) numeric threshold for minority language rights?
Many European countries (Italy, Germany, Finland, Ireland, etc.) have designated areas where a minority language has a special status or support of some sort but usually those are places where the ...
- 30.4k
2
votes
Are there countries in Europe where there's a 10% (or similar, but low) numeric threshold for minority language rights?
It's also known as multiculturalism... (That page gives info for many EU nations further down). Britain has been retreating from multicultural laws since the early 2000's. Previous to that, government ...
- 2,586
2
votes
What are the international and country-based court decisions that make Northern Cyprus legal, and what is the reasoning behind them?
Let me just write out this small rebuttal/frame-challenge since this whole question-answer appears to be little more than self-promotion of a certain viewpoint.
You wrote in a couple of places that ...
- 133k
2
votes
Why do some European governments still consider price capping despite the fact that price caps lead to shortages?
In the long run price capping does lead to a shortage because supply is reduced. However, in the short term it mostly reduces the profits of producers who are often unable to reduce or stop production ...
- 2,334
1
vote
Why have European regions with strong desires for independence not been allowed to have either local parliaments or referendums?
Because a leave vote of 51%/49% could start a civil war.
Politically, giving a region it's own parliament is a much safer bet.
Brexit decided to leave the EU 52%/48%. Several commentators pointed out ...
- 111
1
vote
Why is the left/right spectrum defined so ambiguously? (Europe)
I can't speak to Germany in particular, but the Left/Right is mainly a matter of ideological egalitarianism. Historically speaking, the Left has stood for broad social and political equality while the ...
- 65.1k
1
vote
Why is the left/right spectrum defined so ambiguously? (Europe)
when people talk about "gegen rechts" (against right) they typically march against the AFD
That lumping may make less sense in Germany, but it made a lot of sense in Austria when the "...
- 133k
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