BUSINESS DEREGULATION
Energetics
07-03-2011
Regulative burden
Punishing Executives will Lead to Less Transparent Company Management
28-03-2011
The government is speaking about bettering business conditions, but, simultaneously, it gives the green light to a draft law, envisaging five-year prohibition to assume an executive position for those chief executives who have violated the Competition Law. A commentary by LFMI’s Senior Policy Analyst Ž. Šilėnas on this initiative’s negative impact was posted on Ekonomika.lt.
The Other Side of Personal Bankruptcy
25-03-2011
LFMI’s President R. Vainienė was interviewed by daily Respublika about the negatives effects of the bankruptcy of natural persons. The Lithuanian Radio broadcast a commentary by R. Vainienė “A Debt is not a Wound, but it will be Repaired?” on the same issue.
Sugar Sweet and Nonsweet
02-03-2011
Sugar production is regulated across the EU – the entire process from growing sugar beets to baking pies. The sugar market is part of EU’s common agricultural policy, a complex monster existing for over 40 years that sets local buy-up prices of sugar beets, quotas, import duties and subsidies for exported sugar. However, change is currently underway on the global sugar market. Daily Lietuvos Žinios published a commentary by LFMI‘s Vice President G. Kadziauskas on this topic.
Employment regulation
Restrictions on Temporary Employment will Sweep Away the Emerging Flexibility on the Labour Market and Increase Unemployment
24-03-2011
The draft law on temporary employment specifies regulation of wages, restrictions on users of temporary employment and limitations as to who can be temporarily employed. We propose to eliminate these regulations as they would block the way for current successfully employed temporary workers and companies hiring them, plus businesses providing temporary employment services.
TAXATION AND BUDGETS
Time to Restore People’s Financial Stability
14-03-2011
Tax belts tightened for people and businesses at the height of the crisis has helped the government to preserve the stability of public finances. But the promised lowering of taxes is crucial for people because it’s time to rebuild their financial stability now. Besides, spendthrift politicians need to be safeguarded from temptations. And in general, it’s worth to get it into one’s head that people don’t need to be pleased by increasing spending – they need to get real help via cutting taxes. These are LFMI’s President R. Vainienė’s ideas presented in a commentary in business daily Verslo Žinios.
ECONOMIC REFORMS
Seeking a consistent and purposeful reform in the healthcare system, it is indispensible to formulate a document which would define it properly
02-03-2011
LFMI agrees that seeking to conduct a consistent and purposeful healthcare system reform, it is crucial to approve of a legal document, envisaging the course, the principles and the priorities of medium-term reforms. However, the draft document of the healthcare system development in 2011-2015 has a number of shortcomings, both in contents and in form, therefore we submitted to relevant institutions our comments and proposals regarding it. An interview about this document with LFMI’s President R. Vainienė “The Draft – a Play of Nice Words?” was published in weekly Lietuvos Sveikata.
Sodra: a Costly Ticket to Somewhere or Nowhere
08-03-2011
The decision on how to overhaul the Sodra’s pension system will be adopted quite soon. The recent discussions show that the intentions to reform the Sodra have narrowed to a technical debate as to whether pension accounting should be carried out in litas or in points (units of accounting). The very authors of the proposed alternatives agree that these measures will not eliminate the Sodra’s underlying flaws. The impression is that the year-and-a-half-long debates over the reform have been to little or even no avail. LFMI’s President R. Vainienė spoke on this issue on the Lithuanian Radio.
Imprisoned in the “Sodra’s” Pyramid
12-03-2011
A financial pyramid is an arrangement under which the money invested by investors is used for paying out contributions to previous participants. B. Madoff’s pyramid is considered to be a fraud, while its architect has been sentenced to 150 years in prison. Meanwhile, the pyramid of the state social insurance is legalized in most countries of the world. To cap it all, its guardians try to build an illusion that Sodra is a safe scheme that will never collapse as did all others that have existed before. Daily Lietuvos Žinios printed a commentary by LFMI’s Policy Analyst K. Leontjeva on the issue.
ECONOMIC POLICY
Why G-20 didn’t Find Ways to Lower Prices
14-03-2011
In late February, the participants of the G-20 summit racked their brains about how to stop the price growth which had already turned into a world-wide phenomenon; however, they failed to reach agreement over concrete measures. No wonder, the G-20 countries find it hard to cope with booming prices when they themselves cause their growth. LFMI’s Policy Analyst Vytautas Žukauskas wrote a commentary on this topic in weekly Veidas.
LFMI‘S PARTICIPATION IN SUNRISE AND SUNSET COMMISSIONS
LFMI‘s President Rūta Vainienė and policy analysts continued their active participation in Sunrise and Sunset Commissions and the Commissions‘ working groups to reduce bureaucracy and improve business conditions.
LFMI BLOG
Žilvinas Šilėnas: a “Zoolanderish” Earth Hour
25-03-2011
Žilvinas Šilėnas: Who is More Guilty for Fuel Prices?
17-03-2011
Kaetana Leontjeva. Do the Poor Really Become Poorer?
04-03-2011
