Aging Europe needs immigration, but in order to achieve this in an
organized and orderly way it needs unity of purpose, better planning,
and certainly no border walls
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Showing posts with label Czech Republic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Czech Republic. Show all posts
February 9, 2019
February 6, 2018
Immigration turmoil: Blaming Immigrants For Economic Troubles - by Basak Kus
Immigration has always been a prominent issue in American politics.
It has become even more salient with the presidency of Donald Trump. A
major debate at the moment concerns the economic impact of
immigration—low-skilled immigration, in particular. It is argued that
immigration has suppressed wages, discouraged unions, and exerted fiscal
pressure on the welfare state.
How valid are these arguments? Is immigration really the culprit for these woes?
Let us start with welfare. It is argued immigrants make demands on the welfare state, while not paying enough taxes to cover the cost of the benefits they receive. This is not accurate. America’s welfare system is facing pressure; there is no dispute about that. However, immigration is not the cause. Non-citizens’ use of welfare benefits has declined significantly since the 1996 Welfare Reform no matter where you look: TANF, SSI, food stamps, Medicaid (see here, here and here). At the same time, there is evidence that, in urban areas, immigrant households are paying taxes at nearly the same rate as native households.
If the American welfare system is in distress, that is largely because of the revenue side. The tax revenue the US collects is relatively small, which renders the American welfare state ineffective and unable to meet the needs of the public, as political scientist Sven Steinmo’s work shows. To be specific, in 2015, US’s total tax revenue, at 26 percent of GDP, stood significantly below the OECD average of 34 percent, while in many European countries it exceeded 40 percent. The US’s total corporate tax revenue that year, at 2.2 percent of GDP was also below the OECD average.
Since the 1970s, the highest marginal income tax rate has nearly halved. The bottom line is, it is not the demand on the system caused by immigration that is threatening the welfare state, it is the tax revenue needed to fund it, which is not being collected. Unfortunately, the situation is not likely to improve with the recent passing of the new tax bill.
The truth is, immigrant workers themselves are the victims of the same structural forces that have contributed to the demise of unions: de-industrialization, financialization, and policies, which for decades prioritized market flexibility over wages, employment protection, and unionization rights. Depending on particular political and institutional factors, unions fared better in some countries than others in the face of these global challenges. To make some comparisons with America’s northern neighbor, the percentage of the foreign-born population has been increasing in both countries, and, in fact, it is now higher in Canada than in the US (20% versus 13%). Yet, unions seem to have been faring far better in Canada—both in the private and public sector, despite higher rates of immigration. To be more specific, America’s unionization rates remained very similar to Canada’s until the 1960s, whereas now trade union density in Canada is more than twice that of the United States. Why is this the case? That is a complex question, as Barry Eidlin shows, having to do with these nations’ particular contexts of labor mobilization and party politics.
The worry that immigrants take more than they give, that they would become a “public charge” rather than an “economic contributor” is not new. Cybelle Fox’s work shows, for instance, how deep the economically-based-anti-immigration sentiment ran during the New Deal, how “rumors circulated in the press that there were a million or more aliens on relief,” and how most Americans believed aliens should not receive relief and that those who did should be expelled from the country. These arguments surface time and again, are misguided and simply fuel new nativist attitudes. The overwhelming evidence is that the inflow of immigrants, whether high- or low-skilled, contributes to US economic growth and is not the cause of American workers’ plight.
Read more: Blaming Immigrants For Economic Troubles
How valid are these arguments? Is immigration really the culprit for these woes?
Let us start with welfare. It is argued immigrants make demands on the welfare state, while not paying enough taxes to cover the cost of the benefits they receive. This is not accurate. America’s welfare system is facing pressure; there is no dispute about that. However, immigration is not the cause. Non-citizens’ use of welfare benefits has declined significantly since the 1996 Welfare Reform no matter where you look: TANF, SSI, food stamps, Medicaid (see here, here and here). At the same time, there is evidence that, in urban areas, immigrant households are paying taxes at nearly the same rate as native households.
If the American welfare system is in distress, that is largely because of the revenue side. The tax revenue the US collects is relatively small, which renders the American welfare state ineffective and unable to meet the needs of the public, as political scientist Sven Steinmo’s work shows. To be specific, in 2015, US’s total tax revenue, at 26 percent of GDP, stood significantly below the OECD average of 34 percent, while in many European countries it exceeded 40 percent. The US’s total corporate tax revenue that year, at 2.2 percent of GDP was also below the OECD average.
Since the 1970s, the highest marginal income tax rate has nearly halved. The bottom line is, it is not the demand on the system caused by immigration that is threatening the welfare state, it is the tax revenue needed to fund it, which is not being collected. Unfortunately, the situation is not likely to improve with the recent passing of the new tax bill.
The truth is, immigrant workers themselves are the victims of the same structural forces that have contributed to the demise of unions: de-industrialization, financialization, and policies, which for decades prioritized market flexibility over wages, employment protection, and unionization rights. Depending on particular political and institutional factors, unions fared better in some countries than others in the face of these global challenges. To make some comparisons with America’s northern neighbor, the percentage of the foreign-born population has been increasing in both countries, and, in fact, it is now higher in Canada than in the US (20% versus 13%). Yet, unions seem to have been faring far better in Canada—both in the private and public sector, despite higher rates of immigration. To be more specific, America’s unionization rates remained very similar to Canada’s until the 1960s, whereas now trade union density in Canada is more than twice that of the United States. Why is this the case? That is a complex question, as Barry Eidlin shows, having to do with these nations’ particular contexts of labor mobilization and party politics.
The worry that immigrants take more than they give, that they would become a “public charge” rather than an “economic contributor” is not new. Cybelle Fox’s work shows, for instance, how deep the economically-based-anti-immigration sentiment ran during the New Deal, how “rumors circulated in the press that there were a million or more aliens on relief,” and how most Americans believed aliens should not receive relief and that those who did should be expelled from the country. These arguments surface time and again, are misguided and simply fuel new nativist attitudes. The overwhelming evidence is that the inflow of immigrants, whether high- or low-skilled, contributes to US economic growth and is not the cause of American workers’ plight.
Read more: Blaming Immigrants For Economic Troubles
February 21, 2017
Europe: Dangerous radioactive particles have been detected across Europe from unknown source - by J. Hamill
DANGEROUS
radioactive particles have been detected in seven different European
countries and scientists can’t explain where they have come from.
These radioactive particles are produced by atomic bomb explosions or nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl or Fukushima.
They appear to be emanating from Eastern Europe, but experts have not been able to say exactly what produced them.
Astrid Liland, head of emergency preparedness at the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, told the Barents Observer that the health risk was very low – which was why she did not raise the alarm after detecting Iodine-131 during the second week of January.
Read more: Dangerous radioactive particles have been detected across Europe and no-one knows where they came from
February 22, 2016
EU Refugee Crises:‘Criminal refugee smuggling enormous business - bigger than guns & drugs", says Czech defense minister
 |
| Where is the NATO promised support to stop this? |
“The size of criminal business involving the transport of illegal migrants to Europe is enormous, it exceeds the turnover from the sale of drugs and weapons, making – without exaggeration – billions of EUROS,” said Martin Stropnicky.
The EU border agency Frontex estimates that people-smuggling networks made more than €4 billion ($4.45bn) from their criminal activities last year, with the biggest piece of the pie stemming from smuggling migrants.
That profit is further used to support the illicit drugs and weapons trade.
As over 1.83 million people made it into the European Union in 2015, according to Frontex, Stropnicky expressed doubts about Turkey’s and Greece’s ability to halt or at least deal with the bursting numbers of migrants.
He said that recent statics show that illegal migrant crossings are reaching 5,000 people a day, and this is before the start of the summer season when the waters of the Mediterranean get warmer. More than 870,000 migrants arrived on the Greek islands in 2015 using the so-called Eastern Mediterranean route alone.
Multiple “efficiently” organized smuggling networks operate along the route that smuggle people into Greece via the sea crossing though the Aegean, where the distance between the Turkish coast and Greek islands is as little as 4 nautical miles (7.5 km). These networks which are organized through the use of the social media make a large portion of their profit by selling illegal documents to those fleeing the conflict zones.
“In addition to organizing the sea crossing, smugglers give the migrants information about the asylum processes in different EU member states and sell them forged documents. The highest demand is for Syrian passports, identification cards, birth certificates and residence permits,” Frontex claims.
The Czech Defense Minister also criticized Brussels’ ineffectiveness in coming up with a viable solution to limit the flow of migrants to its borders, echoing the Czech Republic’s president who has earlier criticized EU’s initiative to station some 1,500 border guards at the bloc's gate as laughable.
“I do not see 1,500 European police officers [on southern EU borders], I do not see new reception and identification centers agreed on at previous EU summits,” the defense minister said commenting on the latest EU meeting in Brussels where the bloc’s leaders debated Brexit alongside refugee crisis.
The minister further rejected the European Union’s pondering of "Plan B" which is to close the Balkan borders if necessary.
Despite efforts by European leaders to stem the flow of refugees arriving in Europe, the number of new arrivals has seen an increase in 2016. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more asylum seekers arrived in Europe by boat during the first six weeks of this year than during the first four months of 2015.
Note EU-Digest: It's high time something serious gets done to stop these criminal smuggling activities and curb the flow of refugees.
What is happening to the earlier agreed on NATO navy support. This is a unique opportunity for NATO to get involved in a far more productive and useful activity than they have done so far.
Read more: ‘Enormous business’: Criminal refugee smuggling bigger than guns & drugs – Czech defense minister — RT News
September 9, 2014
Soccer: Key Battles That Will Shape Netherlands' Clash with Czech Republic
Kicking off their Euro 2016 qualification campaign, the Netherlands will face the Czech Republic in Prague on Tuesday.
It won't be the first time the two countries face off: The Netherlands and the Czech Republic have played against each other a total of nine times.
Three games were won by the Dutch, three by the Czechs. The remaining three matches ended in a draw. In other words: From both perspectives, the two nations seem like worthy opponents.
Read more: Key Battles That Will Shape Netherlands' Clash with Czech Republic | Bleacher Report
It won't be the first time the two countries face off: The Netherlands and the Czech Republic have played against each other a total of nine times.
Three games were won by the Dutch, three by the Czechs. The remaining three matches ended in a draw. In other words: From both perspectives, the two nations seem like worthy opponents.
Read more: Key Battles That Will Shape Netherlands' Clash with Czech Republic | Bleacher Report
May 3, 2014
Benefits of EU Membership: Czech economy would be in the tank without EU membership
If the Czech Republic was not a member of the European Union, its
gross domestic product (GDP) for 2013 would be 12 percent lower than it
was, the Czech state secretary for European affairs, Tomáš Prouza, said
at a business forum during the visit of European Council President
Herman Van Rompuy to Prague.
Prouza presented the results of an economic study that several important economists have prepared for the Government Office.
"If we were not an EU member, could not take advantage of the single
market and had no revenues from the Cohesion Policy, Czech GDP for the
past year would be some 12 percent lower than it was," Prouza said.
"If we were not in the EU, there would have been almost no change in the level of incomes of Czech citizens vis-à-vis Western Europe in the 18 years since 1995," he added.
If the Czech Republic was a eurozone member, the revenue of the Czech economy would increase 25 billion Kč to 60 billion Kč annually, and domestic GDP would be between 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent higher.
"If we became a eurozone member in 2007 like Slovakia did, the contribution would be some 270 billion Kč," Prouza said.
The study puts the direct cost of eurozone membership, that is the potential contribution to the European Stability Mechanism, at 35 billion Kč.
The study shows that during EU membership, the Czech economy has gained 770 billion Kč. Without the internal market, its GDP would be 2.5 percent lower and unemployment 1.5 percent higher.
"If it were not for the internal market, if the barriers that were here before our entry to the EU stayed in place, the higher costs, lower trade volume, smaller exports and lack of foreign investments would have deprived us of some 100 billion Kč annually and another 75,000 people would be jobless," Prouza said at the business forum.
Since 2004, EU membership has brought 3.1 trillion Kč to the Czech Republic. The membership thus brought more than the Czech economy produced in 2004: some 300,000 Kč per person.
Read more: Czech economy would be in the tank without EU membership - PRAGUE POST | The Voice of Prague
Prouza presented the results of an economic study that several important economists have prepared for the Government Office.
"If we were not in the EU, there would have been almost no change in the level of incomes of Czech citizens vis-à-vis Western Europe in the 18 years since 1995," he added.
If the Czech Republic was a eurozone member, the revenue of the Czech economy would increase 25 billion Kč to 60 billion Kč annually, and domestic GDP would be between 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent higher.
"If we became a eurozone member in 2007 like Slovakia did, the contribution would be some 270 billion Kč," Prouza said.
The study puts the direct cost of eurozone membership, that is the potential contribution to the European Stability Mechanism, at 35 billion Kč.
The study shows that during EU membership, the Czech economy has gained 770 billion Kč. Without the internal market, its GDP would be 2.5 percent lower and unemployment 1.5 percent higher.
"If it were not for the internal market, if the barriers that were here before our entry to the EU stayed in place, the higher costs, lower trade volume, smaller exports and lack of foreign investments would have deprived us of some 100 billion Kč annually and another 75,000 people would be jobless," Prouza said at the business forum.
Since 2004, EU membership has brought 3.1 trillion Kč to the Czech Republic. The membership thus brought more than the Czech economy produced in 2004: some 300,000 Kč per person.
Read more: Czech economy would be in the tank without EU membership - PRAGUE POST | The Voice of Prague
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