Free Republic

Even as The Economist drifts further and further into progressivism and away from the liberalism of its founding, it still claims to be liberalism’s true, authentic voice. The Economist fashions itself a liberal magazine, in the original sense of the word. The weekly was founded in 1843 to argue against the corn laws, which discouraged food imports with tariffs and other restrictions and kept domestic food prices high. It chalked up the repeal of those laws only three years later to “a fearless reliance upon the truth and justice of a great principle”: liberalism.Today we usually call the intellectual descendants...

Germany’s most in-the-red towns could soon get help from the government, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Saturday. In an interview with the Funke media group, Scholz said Berlin “has signaled its willingness” to help remove a €40 billion ($44 billion) debt from local authorities on a “one-off basis.” Out of Germany’s 11,000 local authorities, Scholz said the plan concerns “around 2,500 cities and municipalities that are squeezed by so much debt that they can barely breathe.” Removing the debt would likely set local authorities up to spend more on much-needed infrastructure repairs and renovations on schools, kindergartens and swimming...

US sanctions targeting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany were signed into law on Friday evening after President Donald Trump signed off on a massive defense bill. The sanctions target companies that are involved in constructing the $11 billion (€9.93 billion) energy project that will transport Russian gas supplies under the Baltic Sea and deliver them directly to Germany. […] On Saturday, the group behind the project said it would aim to complete the project quickly in an effort to minimize the damage of US sanctions. “Completing the project is essential for European supply security. We,...

European leaders warned Friday that Britain could become a formidable rival, just hours after a big victory by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conservatives all but sealed the UK’s Brexit divorce. But the EU chiefs, meeting in Brussels, also expressed relief that British voters had sent a clear message, bringing to an end the first phase of a crisis that has dogged Europe for more than three years. Led by France and Germany, EU member states said they would pursue a swift trade deal with a tight deadline of end 2020, but insisted that any new arrangement must uphold European values...

The eurozone's stagnating economy has suffered its worst performance for six years with uncertainty over Brexit partly to blame, economists said today. The forecast mirrors the gloom also predicted by the European Central Bank, which downgraded growth in the eurozone for next year to a feeble 1.1 per cent.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel used her weekly podcast on Saturday to sound the alarm on the country’s skilled labor shortage, saying it could force companies to move elsewhere. […] Germany wants to tackle the shortfall domestically by providing “good training for as many people as possible,” Merkel said. At the same time, Berlin is looking to recruit qualified people from other European Union countries, and further afield. There are already 2.5 million people from EU countries working in Germany. “But that alone is not enough, and that is why we also have to look for skilled workers from outside the...

The European Union’s anti-trust authority approved €3.2 billion ($3.5 billion) in subsidies aimed at helping Europe boost its lagging competitiveness in the electric battery sector. The subsidy from seven members states — Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Sweden and Finland — will go to 17 different companies, a statement from the European Commission said. The investment injection will help generate an extra €5 billion in private investment, it added. Electric battery production is an important industry sector for the Europe, and the push for subsidies is part of a broader push led by France and Germany to make sure Europe...

France rejects a U.S. proposal this week that would let companies opt out of a proposed international tax reform, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday, urging Washington to negotiate in good faith. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin raised serious questions about OECD international tax reform proposals in a letter made public on Wednesday, jarring international officials by floating the idea of a "safe harbor regime". Le Maire said that would mean U.S. companies could opt in or out as they pleased, which he said would be unacceptable to France and other OECD countries. He urged Washington therefore to...

European lawmakers have voted to declare an EU-wide climate emergency, in a symbolic move aimed at increasing pressure on the incoming European Commission to take a stronger stance on climate change. The climate declaration was passed on Thursday in Strasbourg during a European Parliament (EP) debate on the upcoming United Nations’ COP25 climate summit that kicks off December 2 in Madrid. In a statement on Twitter after the vote, EU lawmakers urged the European Commission “to fully ensure all relevant legislative and budgetary proposals are fully aligned” with the 1.5-degree-Celsius target limit on global warming. The resolution calls on the...

A European agency hit back on Monday against claims that money meant for farming was used to prop up “oligarchs and political patrons” in central and eastern Europe. The European commission has “zero tolerance to fraud” and “very clear rules for how funds should be managed” insisted spokesman Daniel Rosario against allegations published in the New York Times. Mina Andreeva, spokeswoman for OLAF — the EU anti-fraud office also denied that it was the EU’s job to ensure farming subsidies were spent correctly. ”We are not here to replace national governments,” she said. “We cannot and will not do the...

The United States will impose tariffs on $7.5 billion (€6.8 billion) worth of European imports in retaliation for illegal EU subsidies to airplane maker Airbus. The announcement came hours after the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Wednesday ruled on a 15-year-old case that the US could impose $7.5 billion in retaliatory tariffs in response to illegal EU subsidies to Airbus that hurt its American rival Boeing. Washington plans to impose a 10% tariff on aircraft imported from Europe and apply a 25% import tax on other agricultural and industrial items on October 18, the Office of the US Trade Representative...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday threatened rebel lawmakers who try to scupper a no-deal Brexit with expulsion from the governing Conservative party. He also canceled a planned meeting with Conservative MPs opposed to leaving the bloc without a negotiated settlement. A cabinet meeting was expected to take place later this afternoon. Johnson has vowed to deliver Brexit on October 31 “deal or no deal.” Parliament is bracing for a showdown when it meets for the first time after the summer recess on Tuesday. Opposition lawmakers aim to pass a law demanding the government either negotiate a new divorce...

The days of German complacency were nice, but they’re over. They lasted nearly as long as Angela Merkel’s chancellorship and were defined by a feeling of seemingly endless economic success and a sense of pride over Germany’s role in the world. Indeed, at the World Economic Forum in Davos three years ago, Germany was designated as the “best country in the world.” In Europe, there was talk of the “German model” as something for other countries to emulate. When Donald Trump became president in the U.S., some expected Angela Merkel to take up the torch as leader of the free...

The news first reported by Bloomberg on the weekend piqued the interest of economists worldwide. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, the report said, had for the first time mulled the possibility of putting together an emergency stimulus package to prop up the economy, should a full-blown recession beset the nation. This in itself revealed a fundamental change in thinking and philosophy as for a decade or so Scholz’ predecessor, Wolfgang Schäuble, had been an unwavering supporter of a policy that just wouldn’t accept any fresh borrowing. His balanced budget policy had even made inroads into the German language, with lawmakers...

Britain’s trade minister Liz Truss has said the National Health Service (NHS) would not be put up for sale, as she prepares to discuss a free-trade deal with the U.S. in the next few weeks. “My main priority now will be agreeing a free-trade deal with the U.S., building on the successful phone call between the Prime Minister and President Trump,” she wrote in a Telegraph column late on Sunday. …

The headline in Salon blared, “Fourth of July's ugly truth exposed: The Declaration of Independence is sexist, racist, prejudiced,” leading Commentary editor Noah Rothman to tweet out, “So woke, you’re on George III’s side.”But it must be difficult for the left to figure out how to square Great Britain, be it post-American Revolution or post-Brexit, since when you look deeply, you realize the that Britons had to face some tough realities—navigating Brexit being the latest. There were twin circumstances driving the decision of a majority of Britons to leave the EU—circumstances that the United States is grappling with too: immigration,...

Germany’s Social Democrat (SPD) Environment Minister Svenja Schulze presented three independent studies on possible carbon tax schemes in Berlin on Friday. Insisting such a tax would not unduly burden the poor, she said, “those who decide to live a more climate-friendly life could actually get money back.” The plans Schulze presented suggested an initial €35 ($39.50) tax on each metric ton of CO2, to be increased to €180 by 2030, the idea being that the more expensive petrol, natural gas, and heating oil become, the less people will use. Schulze told reporters that those who consume less, including children, will...

Vietnam and the European Union signed a free trade agreement on Sunday, opening opportunities to further boost trade between the euro bloc and one of Southeast Asia’s biggest manufacturing nations. The agreement, which was signed by European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom and Vietnamese Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, will eliminate almost all tariffs for goods traded between Vietnam and the EU’s 28 member countries. “It is a special day for relations between the EU and Vietnam. The agreement has opened a new horizon for the development of both sides,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc...

A key part of the Brexit negotiations has been the border that separates Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The border is a matter of great political, security and diplomatic sensitivity in Ireland. Therefore the UK and EU agreed that whatever happens as a result of Brexit there should be no new physical checks or infrastructure at the frontier. This is where the controversial "backstop" comes in. Go on then, what is the backstop? The backstop is a position of last resort, to maintain a seamless border on the island of Ireland in the event that the UK leaves...

LONDON — Only one person, the joke doing the rounds in Parliament goes, can stop the disheveled, blond-haired, crowd-pleasing former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, from becoming the country’s next prime minister. That is Mr. Johnson himself. One of Britain’s most recognizable, and now most divisive politicians, Mr. Johnson has a history of verbal gaffes, a poor record as a minister and many enemies in Parliament, not to mention among the voters who reject Brexit, which he helped persuade Britons to embrace in a 2016 referendum. But his charisma, flair for publicity and record of winning two elections as mayor of...