Spending on infrastructure makes up just 20 per cent of all public investment in EU countries. The remaining 80 per cent can be classified as investment in human capital – spending on citizens’ health and education. For comparison, just 12 per cent of private investment aims to develop human capital. Annual return on the state’s investment in citizens’ education and health can exceed 10 per cent. As countries emerge from the crisis, this is a good time to increase the volume of public investment and broaden how it is defined, according to the author of the Polish Economic Institute’s report Can the state be a good investor?.

The potential annual carbon costs per household in the EU27 is estimated at EUR 373 for transport and EUR 429 for residential buildings. Significantly, the average rise in energy spending due to transport emission costs for EU27 households in the 1st income quintile could reach 44%, while that due to residential building emission costs could reach 50%. In the case of Poland, emission costs linked to residential buildings will increase the energy spending of the poorest households by 108%, according to the Polish Economic Institute’s report Cost for households of the inclusion of transport and residential buildings in the EU ETS.

Every year, global CIT revenues are as much as USD 240 billion lower due to profit shifting to tax havens.

Piotr Arak, “Länder-Analysen”: Die Corona-Pandemie hat den globalen Digitalisierungsprozess beschleunigt. Ältere und Jüngere mussten lernen, sich wie in einem Science-Fiction-Film zu verhalten, in dem Videokonferenzen persönliche Treffen ersetzen.

Piotr Arak, “Financial Times”: Reforming the global tax system and stopping the race to the bottom that we’ve seen for many years is a great aim.

Piotr Arak, “The Brussels Times”: Societies and politicians in Western and Eastern countries have complained for years as multinational companies shifted profits from the grip of tax collectors to low-tax havens.

According to a study conducted by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE), 87% of Poles are unfamiliar with the details of the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI). After becoming acquainted with the idea, however, the majority support its introduction, provided that it does not involve higher taxes, increased public debt, or cuts to existing social benefits. The proposal is particularly popular among young people with below-secondary education who do not have a stable source of income. At the same time, a clear majority of citizens (73%) declare that they would not give up work if they received such a benefit. These are the main conclusions of the PIE report “Universal Basic Income. A New Idea for the Welfare State?”

Piotr Arak, “Länder-Analysen”: Die Corona-Pandemie hat den globalen Digitalisierungsprozess beschleunigt. Ältere und Jüngere mussten lernen, sich wie in einem Science-Fiction-Film zu verhalten, in dem Videokonferenzen persönliche Treffen ersetzen.

Piotr Arak, Łukasz Czernicki, Jakub Sawulski “EUROPP”, London School of Economics: Two key principles have sat at the heart of the EU’s fiscal rules since the Maastricht Treaty: that governments should run budget deficits no higher than 3% of GDP and maintain a public debt no higher than 60% of GDP.

Piotr Arak, “Afrikan Heroes”: Crises define generations. It will be no different for the young people who are experiencing today’s pandemic – the cost of which for them, in mental, educational and labour terms, has reached $1.7 trillion globally.