In The News

Green Taxes Would Be Good for British Jobs

Irwin Stelzer February 13, 2009
Consumers don't like paying taxes, but pricing energy in a way that encourages conservation could help the British economy in the long run. The global economy depends on fossil fuels, but countries that lack energy often don't agree with policies of countries that control supplies. Subsidizing fossil fuels delays the development of alternatives. “All of this makes it even more urgent...

Statistics Chief Karen Dunnell Inflames Row Over Foreign Workers

Sam Coates February 12, 2009
Foreign workers make up less than 10 percent of the UK employment base. Rather than accept responsibility for a bleak job outlook and problematic financial policies, politicians lambasted release of a statistic that exposes disappearing jobs for citizens in the midst of a campaign on “British jobs for British workers.” UK ministers were chagrined, notes a team of reporters for the Times in...

Britain Must Not Go Wobbly on the Free Market

Emma Marcegaglia February 10, 2009
When jobs are hard to come by, communities naturally try to support local businesses. Domestic workers demand job protection, without stopping to calculate how many might work for foreign firms. Any defensive posture comes at a grave cost, as foreign employers retaliate, abruptly halting efficient trade and hiring. Unfortunately, even the nations that have benefited so much from free trade, such...

Germany Joins EU in Tying Car Fees to Emissions

February 4, 2009
In Germany, described as the EU’s “most car-obsessed nation” in this Spiegel Online article, the government will reduce taxes on small cars and charge a penalty of €2 for every gram of carbon emitted per kilometer over a 120-gram limit. The tax plan may encourage consumers to choose small, fuel-efficient vehicles. “With carmakers Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche leading the way, a large percentage...

British Unions, Angry Over Use of Foreign Workers, Stage Walkouts

John F. Burns February 3, 2009
British labor unions have organized walkouts to protest skilled construction jobs going to workers from elsewhere in the European Union. “The disruption underscored rising fears of labor unrest across Europe – and renewed pressure from unions for a retreat from the European Union’s rules on open labor markets – as job losses across the Continent mounted into the hundreds of thousands with the...

Financial Crisis Causes Iceland's Government to Collapse

David Blair January 30, 2009
With global recession in full force, governments are tested, and Iceland's government is the first in Europe to fail. "Mass demonstrations against the government have become daily events in Reykjavik," writes David Blair for the Telegraph. In 2007, Iceland's finance industry appeared robust; the island nation of 310,000, independent from Denmark since 1944, did not see much...

A Time of Troubles and Protest

January 30, 2009
More than 2.5 workers throughout France rallied behind a one-day strike, urging the government to protect jobs and wages. But as slumping sales and global recession have closed factories, policies and protests fail to address severe inequality that leaves some workers with secure jobs and benefits and many others, particularly among the young, without. In France, the government has focused on...