Indignation and political economy
It’s the responsibility of everyone to try to canalize the energy of indignation to societal improvements. A prominent mechanism to avoid derailments is more transparency.
Prosperity
Itinera gaat voor een samenleving waar het aangenaam is om te leven, waar frisse, ambitieuze ideeën de kans krijgen uit te groeien tot duurzame ondernemingen, waar onderwijs jongeren klaarstoomt en zin geeft, en waar innovaties transformeren in succesvolle producten in een economie die blijft bloeien.
Bankbonuses: an unfinished business
As long as structural measures to end the “too big to fail problem” of banks is not completed, we have to consider the potential negative effects of bonuses and exit payments.
Seven Years of economic crisis
The first stirrings of what would later be called the “sub-prime crisis” were observed in August 2006, in the midst of the greatest possible indifference. Hence, seven years have gone by since the western world stumbled over itself.
The endless labor cost discussion
To maintain our social system, there is a need to create 400.000 jobs towards 2020. An objective calculation shows that to increase labour intensity of economic growth and to upgrade the employment rate, a wage cost reduction of 5% is only a first step.
Local government finances: investment expenses of local governments raise with 17,5% during an election year
“If we don’t do anything we are bankrupt within three years” a newspaper quoted recently the words of the mayor of Kortrijk. It’s essential that the management of public finances on the municipal level is being viewed with the necessary seriousness.
The (un)deserved fairness tax
The federal government has announced a new tax for trading partnerships, wrongfully named the ‘fairness tax’. The economic and political incentives for a minimum tax are understandable, but the measures that the government announces, raises several questions.
The endgame: exit from excess debt- environment
History tells if debt has escalated as it has done in the West, the fastest way out of the crisis is debt restructuring.
