Theme
Democracy & Good Governance
In een wereld waarin de democratie steeds meer bedreigd wordt, kijkt Itinera er nauwlettend op toe dat individuele rechten en vrijheden standhouden. Een betrouwbaar rechtssysteem is de basis, vertrouwen in de politiek moet de ambitie zijn van de overheid. Door te focussen op haar kerntaken, zorgvuldig om te springen met belastinggeld en rekenschap af te leggen.
The creditworthiness of a country remains crucial
The creditworthiness of a country remains essential. Only, it’s always been very simplistic to search for a unique “critical” debt level after which the economic consequences are dramatic. The context turns out crucial.
Budget discipline or debt creation is also a moral choice
Marc De Vos argues that budget discipline can be a moral imperative when debt addiction has tied future generations to present spending. Excessive public debt is an organized regressive distribution of future prosperity to today’s rich.
Community oriented local police care: No autonomy without accountability
Without transparency towards citizens and/or benchmarking of the performance of the police districts, there is more room than desirable for abuse of trust and inefficiency.
Disconnect euro-membership from European Union
From economic viewpoint, nothing seems more logic than disconnecting membership of the European Union from the introduction of the single currency.
What's the deal with the deposit insurance?
There has been a lot of turbulence in this country over the proposition of European commissioner Olli Rehn to let large depositors participate in the costs when a bank collapses. The guaranteed deposit system has to balance many different elements. Not taking this into account is danger...
European regulations regarding public budgets
Herman Matthijs discusses the important influence coming from new European budgetary rules. A thorough understanding of six-pack and the new procedures towards the European Semester is necessary for everyone following the budgetary procedures.
Europe's phony war between austerians and deficitarians
Marc De Vos sees economic theory and political reality diverging on the issue of deficits and austerity. Polarization is a huge waste of time. The budgetary challenge for Belgium is structural and not cyclical. The crisis cannot be an alibi to let the budget derail even further.
Flash Itinera Factchecking
The budget debate in our country confronts us with the need for greater fiscal coordination at European level, the think tank Itinera argues. For Belgium the think tank sees but one good remedy: save on public spending at all levels.