tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32081892186330593372012-02-12T11:43:08.523ZObservations on the six pillars for the good of humanity: Representative Democracy - Constitutional Liberalism - Market Capitalism - Productive Work - Scientific Method - Enlightened VirtuesAntonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.comBlogger1541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-3279441889440457532012-02-12T11:43:00.000Z2012-02-12T11:43:08.531Z

Eduardo Catorga, o principal negociador do Programa da Troika em nome do PSD, vem ao fim de apenas nove meses juntar-se ao coro dos que defendem um ajustamento do Programa. Ajustar, estender, flexibilizar ou renegociar são questões semânticas sobre as quais não vale a pena perder tempo. A verdadeira questão que deve ser colocada é sobre o que é que o Governo Português pretende fazer para

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-40853538183434672592012-02-11T22:53:00.000Z2012-02-11T22:53:16.740Z

The Obama administration $25 billion deal struck with the nation’s five biggest mortgage servicers tops numerous other approaches to boosting the housing market that have conspicuously failed to prop up the economy. However, such attempt at propping up real estate prices to the levels achieve at the height of the previous bubble is a questionable objective. First, it disregards the ability to

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-41422049266227152422012-02-04T14:46:00.000Z2012-02-04T14:46:35.266Z

There is a never ending history of blaming capitalism for all evils in society. The vigilantes are always out there looking for market failures and externalities to "prove" the limitations of capitalism. The most recent accusation is that capitalism is responsible for obesity because the food industry is driven to profit from what Ken Rogoff called coronary capitalism. The idea that capitalism

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-2596441637428733042012-01-19T20:24:00.000Z2012-01-19T20:24:17.576Z

O capitalismo de estado caracteriza-se por ser um sistema económico em que o estado detém uma parte significativa dos meios de produção e ou regulamenta as maiores empresas, interferindo directa ou indirectamente na maioria dos negócios mais significativos. Outra particularidade é que não se identifica com a iniciativa privada e o capitalismo embora não os renegue na sua totalidade. Este sistema

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-25702713696816350542012-01-14T13:05:00.000Z2012-01-14T13:05:59.206Z

The success of dictatorial forms of state capitalism often depends on the adoption of a mob management style. As is well known, the various Mafia families run both legitimate and criminal activities. Often, what is not realized is that successful mafia bosses learned that they could not run the two types of business in the same way. When taking over lawful businesses they leave in charge the

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-64594902490037075052011-12-31T10:43:00.000Z2011-12-31T10:43:48.261Z

Aparentemente os Chineses compraram a EDP oferecendo o melhor preço. O vendedor (Estado) - fez o que é normal. Vendeu a quem fez a melhor oferta, invocando o princípio geral de que o dinheiro não tem cor. Tudo bem? Não! Tudo estaria bem se o princípio invocado não tivesse excepções morais e práticas. Sob o ponto de vista moral não é legitimo beneficiar do chamado dinheiro sujo. Sob o ponto de

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-84196784642904993282011-12-22T12:30:00.000Z2011-12-22T12:30:52.597Z

It is time to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! If you are hurrying to buy the last present do not worry, the family reunion is more important than the presents. So, spare a moment to think about those who are alone or have no family or friends to visit over Christmas. You may have heard this cliché many times. However, we must wonder why Christmas is so significant in

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-14562946255397795022011-12-18T22:30:00.000Z2011-12-18T22:30:26.573Z

As declarações na semana passada de Pedro Nuno Santos, ex-dirigente da Jota Socialista e porta-voz do Partido Socialista para a Economia, sobre o não pagamento da divida soberana não foi apenas mais uma demonstração da baixa qualidade da classe política Portuguesa. As declarações confirmam também a inquestionável inferioridade média da classe política actual em relação à classe política do

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-3832686869564786172011-12-12T05:39:00.001Z2011-12-12T05:39:00.237Z

Here are some figures someone should have explained to Mrs. Merkel, before she coerced European leaders (with the exception of Mr. Cameron, the UK prime minister) into fiscal fundamentalism. First, a look at German savings: With a slow growing economy, Germans save every year €130 billion, or 6% of their income, that they have to lend abroad. With the exception of the government, all sectors

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-70546123914868097232011-12-09T16:05:00.001Z2011-12-09T18:38:25.867Z

Another useless EU Summit - thank you Mr. Cameron for killing the new “Merkozy” version of an absurd fiscal union for the entire EU. This time, the absurdity of setting a budget limit of 0.5% of GDP (when it has been unable to comply with the existing limit of 3%), was compounded by requiring its inscription as a rule in national legal systems at constitutional or equivalent level (see here why

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-45813050142382208002011-12-05T19:19:00.000Z2011-12-05T19:19:19.143Z

Este fim-de-semana o Primeiro-ministro deixou o país perplexo com a notícia de que tinha 2 mil milhões de Euros para injectar na economia. Onde é que ele foi buscar o dinheiro? Aparentemente a receita extraordinária com os fundos de pensões dos bancos teria criado essa folga orçamental. Infelizmente as ditas receitas extraordinárias não são verdadeiras receitas, mesmo que o Eurostat diga que sim

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-38954543995666179822011-12-02T17:05:00.000Z2011-12-02T17:05:41.506Z

It seems that the ECB is considering moving towards the type of back-to-back loan solution that we advocated in a previous post to stop the speculative bet on the collapse of the Euro. Bloomberg has just announced that the ECB is in talks with the IMF to set up a special $270 billion lending facility that would bypass the legal constraint of acting as lender of last resort to Euro Zone

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-12284814494760425732011-11-29T08:04:00.000Z2011-11-29T08:04:42.979Z

Mário Soares subscreveu mais um manifesto intitulado “Novo Rumo”, onde reitera a sua conhecida aversão à chamada 3ª via do socialismo e da social-democracia a quem acusa de terem “sido colonizadas na viragem do século pelo situacionismo neo-liberal”. O Socialismo é uma relíquia do século XIX, que tentou encontrar uma alternativa à emergência do sistema económico capitalista que então substituía

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-39382350962440180352011-11-11T15:13:00.000Z2011-11-11T15:13:01.560Z

Financial risk management revolves about two options - to share or to transfer risk with/to somebody else. The two approaches are legitimate but they are substantially different in terms of their ripple effects. There are three main types of ripple effects: moral hazard, compounding and systemic. The first – moral hazard – is common to both options, but the second – risk compounding – is specific

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-51328525102952193662011-11-10T07:35:00.000Z2011-11-10T07:35:59.762Z

First, three facts: 1) For a currency that is in risk of imploding, the Euro has done better than the Dollar: 2) At the end of 2010 the total foreign net debt (private and public) of Italy was $0.5 trillion (26% of GDP) while that of the US was $2.47 trillion (17% of GDP); the current account deficit of the two countries was identical (3.24% of GDP); and the total central government debt was

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-62042635911465835982011-11-07T15:26:00.000Z2011-11-07T15:26:27.874Z

Um estudo recente sobre o impacto de uma taxa única na tributação do rendimento tal como propõe o Governador Rick Perry, um dos candidatos à nomeação presidencial do Partido Republicano nos Estados Unidos, lança novos elementos sobre a velha questão de saber quem são os ricos. Como afirmamos num post anterior existe hoje uma tendência para considerar como ricos apenas 1% dos contribuintes com

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-78032795065232276462011-11-04T12:09:00.000Z2011-11-04T12:09:36.134Z

It appears that Aristotle defined tragicomedy as a serious action with a happy ending. So can we write the recent tragedy of the Greek bailout and the ongoing comic infighting of the Greek politicians as a prelude to a plot with a happy ending? Last night’s refusal to agree on a Greek government of national salvation might lead to either new elections or a referendum on the bailout program. This

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-6876729151001621642011-11-03T13:03:00.001Z2011-11-11T17:55:05.191Z

Quando eu era criança costumávamos seleccionar os membros de cada equipa de futebol contando um, dois e três e exclamando “três foi a conta que Deus fez”. A tradição cristã sobre este número advém da santíssima trindade e do conceito de família composta por pai, mãe e filhos. Qualquer um dos outros algarismos também tem a sua dose de provérbios nas diferentes culturas e religiões. Na verdade,

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-50903878554999620072011-10-28T10:22:00.000+01:002011-10-28T10:22:30.313+01:00

In today’s news: “AP - The chief of Europe's bailout fund visited Beijing on Friday to discuss possible terms for a bond sale aimed at raising money from China and other non-European investors”. After months of protracted squabbling over how to solve the Greek problem, all that Sarkozy and Merkel could come up with was a convoluted scheme that involves begging support from one of the remaining

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-108717349971426332011-10-27T08:17:00.000+01:002011-10-27T08:17:37.548+01:00

The European Union is famous for adding an ever increasing regulatory burden on companies. So when it announces that it will reduce the burden of excessive regulation one is naturally skeptic about its real motivations. This week’s announcement of proposals to reduce the burden for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) imposed by the so-called Transparency Directive (2004/109/EC) provides a clear

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-7771403358329859382011-10-25T11:42:00.000+01:002011-10-25T11:42:45.280+01:00

Portugal basicamente estagnou na última década: Hoje produzimos menos 2% do que produzíamos em 2007, mas a economia Portuguesa tem sido a mais resiliente desde a crise de 2008: Será que o programa de ajustamento vai mergulhar o País num abismo semelhante ao Grego?

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-59374624031364903402011-10-24T09:35:00.000+01:002011-10-24T09:35:18.722+01:00

Kaddafi’s killing raised again the question of how revolutionaries aspiring to democracy should treat evil dictators. Brutal dictators are often paranoid and usually commit their crimes in three different contexts: 1) by committing war crimes in savage wars against other countries; 2) by using extreme violence in civil wars among their own people; and 3) through the brutal persecution and

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-22491865881101533662011-10-20T10:39:00.000+01:002011-10-20T10:39:54.755+01:00

O Ministro das Finanças acaba de apresentar o Orçamento mais drástico dos últimos anos. Propõe-se reduzir a despesa (excluindo os juros) num montante equivalente a 3.2% do PIB previsto para 2012, isto é, aproximadamente 7.5 mil milhões de Euros. No lado da receita, apesar dum aumento das receitas correntes num montante equivalente a 0.8% do PIB, prevê uma redução das receitas igual a 0.9% do PIB

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-83061172982451659052011-10-18T07:33:00.000+01:002011-10-18T07:33:53.022+01:00

The unprecedented rise in the compensation of CEOs and other top executives in US listed companies began in the early 1980s. As documented in several studies, including that of Frydman and Saks (2007) from which we reproduce the following two charts. In the 1980s the average total compensation of the top three executives suddenly jumped from an historical multiple below 40 times the average

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-89992250323840387512011-10-17T08:05:00.000+01:002011-10-17T08:05:24.734+01:00

Este fim-de-semana os Jornais publicaram o ranking das escolas baseado nos resultados dos exames do secundário. Mais uma vez confirmou-se a tendência recente para a concentração dos melhores resultados nas escolas privadas. Num total de 565 Escolas com mais de 50 exames, as escolas Privadas ocuparam os primeiros 20 lugares e representam 80% das escolas no top 10% com melhores resultados. O

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-16289101366855985612011-10-14T11:05:00.000+01:002011-10-14T11:05:45.788+01:00

A proposta de Orçamento de Estado para 2012 volta a escolher os funcionários públicos mais qualificados como vítimas do descalabro despesista dos Governos Socialistas. Enquanto José Sócrates passeia descansadamente no seu retiro dourado de Paris, os médicos, professores e outros quadros da função pública, no activo ou reformados, vão ter mais um corte salarial de 14.28% a somar aos 13.1% que já

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-63398777113097382882011-10-13T08:07:00.000+01:002011-10-13T08:07:41.456+01:00

The social movements in the 1960s should be an important reminder for the current wave of discontent, whether it is the anti-globalization, Spain’s “yes we camp” or the “Occupy Wall Street” movements. Then we had the anti-Vietnam War protesters, the hippies and the students’ revolts of May 68 in Paris and elsewhere. Then, like now, various political forces and trade unions tried to profit from

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-42538768984459075602011-10-12T06:19:00.000+01:002011-10-12T06:19:00.264+01:00

The development of companies and corporations was essential for the success of capitalism. Without them it would be more difficult to take advantage of its basic innovations - limited liability and shared ownership - indispensible for large scale capital accumulation. However, when a founder no longer wishes or can control the firm he must decide on selling control, liquidating or continuing the

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-74879580444082251602011-10-11T05:43:00.000+01:002011-10-11T05:43:00.404+01:00

O actual Governo parece determinado em seguir as pegadas do anterior. Sócrates para esconder o despesismo Socialista recorreu às famigeradas PPPs, chegando mesmo a contabilizar os empréstimos como receitas. Passos Coelho, para esconder a incapacidade para reduzir a despesa pública, está a recorrer às fusões de organismos e empresas. Contrariamente à extinção ou às privatizações, as fusões não

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-89959289029820926002011-10-10T06:37:00.001+01:002011-10-10T06:37:00.782+01:00

Copenhagen currently hosts two interesting exhibitions of paintings by Gauguin and Lautrec. Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) were contemporaries who used different techniques to paint marvelous pictures of two different societies. The first painted the primitive inhabitants of Polynesia while the second painted the sophisticated Parisians in the late 19th century.

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-35234668047949037602011-09-30T07:32:00.001+01:002011-09-30T07:32:00.371+01:00

O declínio na influência e representatividade dos sindicatos levou a que estes hoje apenas estejam activos em sectores charneira da economia e no sector público. Por isso, com um grau de fiabilidade razoável, podemos identificar as classes profissionais mais privilegiadas contando o número de greves e manifestações que estas realizam. Entre estas destacam-se os trabalhadores dos transportes, os

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-88873993190638996712011-09-29T06:49:00.001+01:002011-09-29T06:49:00.550+01:00

Os comboios de alta velocidade (TGV na designação Francesa e AVE na designação Espanhola) voltam a estar no centro do debate político. O Ministro da Economia acaba de anunciar que em vez de um comboio de alta velocidade (TGV) vamos ter dois comboios de alta prestação (AVE?), combinando o transporte de passageiros e de mercadorias numa mesma linha de bitola Europeia, e ligando os portos de Aveiro

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-6618602809843930842011-09-28T06:55:00.001+01:002011-09-28T06:55:00.174+01:00

The right of self-defense from coercion (including violence) is a fundamental right under libertarianism. In situations of danger to oneself or to one’s property we are entitled to respond with armed or unarmed resistance that may result in killing the attacker. In practice the various legal systems limit such right, namely to situations where defense is not available from the police or military,

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-56400132453612885062011-09-27T06:23:00.001+01:002011-09-27T06:23:00.185+01:00

Does the liberal ruling on the inviolability of the right to life applies to the unborn? This is the fundamental question in the debate between pro-choice and pro-life movements. Whether the deliberate termination of pregnancy before the fetus becomes viable violates the ruling rests on two controversial issues – when life begins and parental ownership. Human life begins during fecundation or

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-89977462674979322612011-09-26T08:36:00.001+01:002011-09-26T08:36:00.926+01:00

Based on liberal principles, we argued before that individuals should not have the right to voluntarily terminate their lives. We shall consider now whether the State should have the right to capital punishment. Most countries have renounced that right, but about 60% of humankind still lives under regimes with death penalty. Some of those regimes are dictatorships, like China, Iran or Saudi

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-22844002666378721612011-09-23T07:24:00.001+01:002011-09-23T07:24:00.799+01:00

Liberals believe that the acceptable limits to individual freedom are only justified by the need to prevent doing harm to others. But, what about harming to himself namely through the extreme act of committing suicide? The attitude to suicide has been extensively debated by philosophers and theologians throughout history, and we find all types of arguments in favor or against ranging from

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-9451457941401067332011-09-22T07:56:00.001+01:002011-09-22T07:56:00.523+01:00

Nos dias de hoje a maioria das pessoas muda várias vezes de empregador ou acumula mais do que um emprego e consequentemente pode ter descontado para diversas entidades pagadoras ao abrigo de um ou mais sistemas de pensões. Eu próprio quando trabalhei no sector privado num dos empregos descontei para um regime de benefícios pré-definidos e noutro para um regime misto. Existem também empregadores

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-49172863821163550162011-09-21T07:37:00.001+01:002011-09-21T07:37:00.658+01:00

Quando as pensões são consideradas “milionárias”, no sentido popular de excessivas, então isso deve-se a pagamentos indevidos. Se forem pagas com base apenas nas contribuições feitas pelos beneficiários e respectivos empregadores é indiferente que o pensionista receba apenas uma ou uma dezena de pensões e, se o seu valor for considerado excessivo, isso significa apenas que o beneficiário tinha

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-76499482105122988912011-09-20T07:33:00.000+01:002011-09-20T07:33:07.166+01:00

São frequentes na comunicação social as reclamações contra a acumulação de pensões, algumas delas milionárias, que estariam na base da previsível falência do sistema de segurança social. Porém, ignora-se que a acumulação e o valor das pensões são duas questões fundamentalmente diferentes, embora ambas possam estar na origem das chamadas pensões milionárias. Uma pensão é um rendimento vitalício (

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-46259514242138663432011-09-19T06:22:00.001+01:002011-09-19T06:22:00.868+01:00

A reforma da Administração Pública em curso parece errática, confusa e irreflectida. Ao começar-se pela extinção de chefias, fez-me lembrar o que seria uma desmobilização militar que fosse feita dispensando apenas metade dos oficiais. Perguntaríamos: então e o que é que acontece aos soldados? Fundem-se os pelotões, esquadrões, etc., responderiam alguns. Seria uma resposta absurda, pois reduzia

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-7862221521527539092011-09-16T11:01:00.000+01:002011-09-16T11:01:25.984+01:00

Existem situações onde os custos de cobrança são superiores ou iguais às receitas cobradas. Aparentemente, isso acontecerá nas urgências de alguns hospitais e nalguns parques de estacionamento das nossas cidades. Nesses casos não seria melhor deixar de cobrar? Nalguns casos sim, noutros não. Se um parque ou uma urgência não estiverem saturados ao ponto de causar demoras e riscos com custos

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-62539762733482924402011-09-15T04:56:00.000+01:002011-09-15T04:56:30.410+01:00

Ontem ao ouvir as notícias sobre uma nova empreitada ganha pela Martifer no Brazil fiquei estupefacto pela baixa qualidade do jornalismo actual. Um canal dava a notícia como se a empresa tivesse sido especialmente escolhida para construir o estádio onde irá ter lugar a final do Mundial. Outro noticiava que a empresa tinha ganho o concurso para a construção de um dos doze novos estádios a

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-12996731243597419912011-09-13T07:17:00.001+01:002011-09-15T05:06:24.757+01:00

Any doctrine should be like a living being. It has its origins and then develops in many different ways. One should not take its founders to the letter, in a Koran-like fashion. But, likewise we must require that its many emanations have a minimum content from the founders, the same way a burger to be a burger must have a minimum of beef. Therefore, finding a fine balance between innovation and

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-43586163881993967342011-09-12T10:28:00.000+01:002011-09-12T10:28:57.560+01:00

If you watch the Jane Austen TV series you may have wondered how much time her characters spend organizing their leisure activities. She wrote in an epoch when leisure was the only respectable occupation for the rich. In contrast, the poor had very little leisure. This sharp distinction between leisure and work had not been so marked before the industrial revolution and has been weakening again

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-67409857457757487892011-09-09T18:17:00.000+01:002011-09-09T18:17:29.526+01:00

Afinal o Congresso do Partido Socialista que decorre este fim-de-semana não vai ser apenas a coroação do recém-eleito Secretário-Geral. O facto de Mário Soares regressar ao Congresso após uma ausência de mais de 25 anos é mais do que simbólico. Para se perceber isso é preciso regressar a meados da década de 1980. Então, a até aí incontestável dominância do PS por Mário Soares foi quebrada com a

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-65578172686775750022011-09-08T12:53:00.000+01:002011-09-08T12:53:39.197+01:00

Não é possível melhorar o funcionamento da democracia representativa sem aplicar os seus princípios básicos ao funcionamento dos próprios partidos. Entre estes princípios destaca-se o sufrágio universal, intransmissível e secreto. A aplicação deste princípio na eleição directa dos líderes partidários tem méritos indiscutíveis. Desde logo porque dá voz a todos os membros do partido. Depois,

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-71487608866939252412011-09-07T07:00:00.000+01:002011-09-07T07:00:02.097+01:00

The old say that a nation gets the leaders they deserve should not be applied lightly to the Palestinians or any other nation. Truly, in recent history, they have been ruled by a series of terrorist and corrupt leaders. But in a non-democratic society people cannot truly choose their leaders, just like in a gang controlled slam its poor residents cannot be blamed for their criminal rulers.

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-21729288344661872712011-09-05T06:24:00.001+01:002011-09-05T06:24:00.726+01:00

Quando toca a pagar impostos ninguém se considera rico. Mas afinal quem é rico em Portugal? Essa classificação não é fácil, porque podemos usar três critérios fundamentalmente diferentes – os gastos, o património e o rendimento – que dariam certamente resultados muito diferentes. Na medida em que as Finanças só publicam dados sobre os rendimentos, e estes são reportados por agregado familiar

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-27401174861651097522011-09-02T20:32:00.000+01:002011-09-02T20:32:17.006+01:00

Ainda que de forma tímida, parece que o meu primeiro alerta ao Governo para demonstrar aos Portugueses que se preocupa com o sentimento de justiça foi ouvido. Finalmente, foi anunciado um imposto extraordinário em sede de IRS e IRC para as pessoas e empresas com maiores rendimentos. Fazemos votos de que não se fique por aqui. Entretanto, estive a ouvir a interpelação ao Ministro das Finanças na

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-58322924958852487852011-08-31T07:48:00.000+01:002011-08-31T07:48:28.508+01:00

Before we discuss how to apply the principles of representative democracy to political parties, we need to understand the allocation of power inside them. Power struggles within organizations in general and within parties have many features in common studied in organizational theory. One feature that is salient in political parties is the extreme greed for power, well expressed in the popular

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-84755579346209309682011-08-30T08:34:00.000+01:002011-08-30T08:34:56.489+01:00

A comunicação social Portuguesa, sempre ávida das novidades Parisienses, tem dado grande destaque à chamada tributação das grandes fortunas. Porém esquece-se que em matéria de tributação a França não é exemplo para ninguém, como se pode facilmente depreender dos seguintes quadros extraídos da base de dados da OCDE. No que respeita à taxa máxima do imposto sobre o rendimento, a França já tem uma

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-11821383058573624892011-08-29T06:38:00.007+01:002011-08-29T06:38:00.252+01:00

We can’t all deleverage at the same time. That would be equivalent to everyone moving to the same spot in a sinking ship. It would capsize immediately. To see why, imagine this nightmare scenario: everywhere and everybody – banks, firms, governments and families – think that they are overleveraged (i.e. is excessively in debt) and decide to reduce debt (deleverage) simultaneously. Regardless of

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-38499852004854596572011-08-26T06:57:00.001+01:002011-08-26T06:57:00.084+01:00

I am quite fed up with the way professional economists discuss the pros and cons of stimulus spending. I would like to remind them that textbooks teaching the income and expenditure multipliers also explain that the effects of increased spending are partially offset by two types of leakages – savings and imports. So, one would expect that economists would fight their corner by fencing with

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-54576343179066744812011-08-25T07:20:00.000+01:002011-08-25T07:20:58.859+01:00

Ontem as televisões Portugueses, num exemplo típico de mau jornalismo, entrevistaram quatro bilionários Portugueses sobre a iniciativa dos bilionários Franceses que propuseram um imposto extraordinário sobre as suas fortunas para ajudar o país a sair da crise e concluíram (pasme-se…) que os milionários Portugueses estavam divididos sobre a questão com base em declarações de Américo Amorim que

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-39478322044787403132011-08-24T08:31:00.000+01:002011-08-24T08:31:04.411+01:00

As Parcerias Público-Privadas (PPPs), foram um desastre a dois níveis – ficaram desastrosamente caras e serviram para ocultar o despesismo que levou à crise da dívida Portuguesa. Infelizmente, a despesa está feita e nada se pode fazer, há que pagar a irresponsabilidade dos nossos governantes. No entanto, o seu custo ainda pode ser parcialmente reduzido renegociando as rendas por vencer,

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-84871076552879140182011-08-23T07:32:00.000+01:002011-08-23T07:32:28.570+01:00

What do the Norwegian bomber, the London rioters and the Madrid sit-in have in common? All questioned the capacity of the elected representatives to listen to their demands. All used the new media to organize themselves to commit and promote their acts. Politicians and the media have always been blamed for steering the extremism and madness of individuals and mobs. Such events are also invariable

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-72055728388831303532011-08-22T07:15:00.000+01:002011-08-22T07:15:20.629+01:00

O Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa é um comentador televisivo inteligente, influente e popular. Possuindo uma capacidade de comunicação extraordinária e fontes de informação privilegiadas, utiliza a sua aptidão analítica e razoável grau de independência para nos brindar semanalmente com comentários de grande influência sobre a opinião pública. Apesar de ser militante destacado do PSD e

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-32747887984962267712011-08-18T07:48:00.000+01:002011-08-18T07:48:05.512+01:00

Os três principais factores que mais contribuem para a crescente desmotivação dos portugueses são: a) a falta de perspectivas para o futuro, b) a percepção de que são sempre enganados pelos políticos, e c) o sentimento de injustiça na repartição dos sacrifícios necessários para sair da crise. O último é frequentemente expresso através do dito popular “são sempre os pequeninos a pagar”. Como eu

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-40765343483795805662011-08-17T09:11:00.000+01:002011-08-17T09:11:11.917+01:00

Yesterday’s press conference of the German and French leaders to announce their vision of Europe was so dull, leaderless and uninspiring that in itself it was enough to put off any followers of their proposals. However, their plans for an Euro Zone closer integration are so misguided and meaningless that they need to be denounced as such. They include: a) closer economic integration; b)

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-70285846148768152352011-08-16T06:22:00.000+01:002011-08-16T06:22:44.201+01:00

The debate on whether an European Agency (some kind of Euro Area Treasury department) should replace the Euro Zone countries in financing a substantial share of each country’s public sector borrowing requirements (some suggest a minimum of 60%) has gained new momentum since leading German business groups called for the issuance of Euro Zone bonds in defiance of the official German position. The

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-53407326563003356132011-08-02T17:16:00.000+01:002011-08-02T17:16:02.497+01:00

It is common sense that a simple form of risk mitigation is through portfolio diversification. This principle has been popularized as “do not put all the eggs in the same basket!” That is, do not invest all your Euros in a single investment. However, a few discordant voices claim that one should put all the eggs in a just a couple of baskets, so that they can be properly monitored. The view

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-38688158951186903222011-07-25T16:42:00.000+01:002011-07-25T16:42:46.901+01:00

As far as I am aware there are only four legal ways to become seriously rich in a short period of time: to inherit or marry into money, to hit a lottery or sales jackpot, to become the CEO of a large public company or investment fund in the USA or to leverage one’s way into wealth. Out of the four, only leverage is not fundamentally determined by destiny or luck. Not surprisingly, this

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-62778593072075970362011-07-24T16:12:00.000+01:002011-07-24T16:12:08.166+01:00

The suicidal nature of capitalism has been predicted by several authors, both supporters and enemies of capitalism. By suicidal we mean a process through which capitalism would weave its own destruction. Among the most influential theories we found Karl Marx’s surplus value theory of capital accumulation, Schumpeter’s claim that the success of capitalism would lead to a form of corporatism

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-58038975843276539732011-07-23T21:58:00.000+01:002011-07-23T21:58:10.111+01:00

In principle, everything we buy can be treated as an investment and therefore to a large extent investment is like breathing, something that everybody knows about. However when dealing in financial assets we should avoid the traditional statement that investment is the commitment of funds with the hope of gain, or a process of buying and selling securities with a view to get the greatest possible

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-54646658192520721722011-07-22T12:11:00.000+01:002011-07-22T12:11:18.889+01:00

The FT just published a few details of the bond swap agreement in the new bailout for Greece. The swap agreement is only for Greece, and “All other euro countries solemnly reaffirm their inflexible determination to honour fully their own individual sovereign signature”. The only interesting feature of the agreement is the voluntary exchange of bonds maturing before 2019 by 15 and 30 year bonds,

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-77028551746389440822011-07-21T05:16:00.000+01:002011-07-21T05:16:56.206+01:00

Everywhere, politicians advocate public policies to foster virtues (e.g. philanthropy) and discourage vices (e.g. smoking) through both the revenue and the spending side of the budget. However, they frequently treat them differently by failing to measure separately the costs of tax breaks and surcharges applied to achieve such policies. Free markets do not require neutrality in the rates of

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-42800466399443927042011-07-20T12:37:00.000+01:002011-07-20T12:37:30.719+01:00

In most countries wealth is created under various economic systems. An economic system is defined by a set of rules defining the relationship between interacting economic agents. For instance, in a feudal system the relationship between the landlords and their subjects was based on serfdom. Similarly the relation between the state and its citizens is exerted through coercion. By contrast in

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-21351743873723861722011-07-18T08:09:00.001+01:002011-07-18T08:23:45.822+01:00

Free money is everywhere and every time a sure way to waste money in the most ludicrous ways. Often this is only pathetic without causing serious damage to the economy. For instance when Brussels pays you to keep your pony paddock or when you no longer need even to pretend to grow olives; you simply have to show that you have title to the land and that you are keeping it in good nick, olives or

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-46543501756737613292011-07-12T18:31:00.000+01:002011-07-12T18:31:21.967+01:00

Our blog is mostly about reflections on the means to achieve human happiness. Still, from time to time, we need to keep sight of what are the end pursuits of humankind. Often, these are not easily distinguishable from the means like when we pursue a long but healthy live or when we need to trade immediate pain for future pleasures. The later is often discussed when pursuing a hedonist approach

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-66058900049442038942011-07-01T12:37:00.000+01:002011-07-01T12:37:03.846+01:00

The FT published recently some comments by James Murdoch claiming that News Corporation – the world’s largest media conglomerate – is not big enough. The reason, he argues, is that “When you actually look at the competitive set in an all-media market place, where you have monolithic brands, from Google and Apple etc, to the big [telecoms incumbents] Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, Verizon – all the

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-53308594515233038192011-06-30T18:07:00.000+01:002011-06-30T18:07:07.340+01:00

Nos últimos 60 anos Portugal deixou de ser um país rural para se transformar num país de serviços. Porém, esta transformação não foi linear. Pelo meio tivemos uma economia assente num fugaz processo de industrialização (baseado em sectores mão-de-obra-intensiva, como os têxteis e o calçado) que teve o seu pico em 1970 como se constata na tabela abaixo. Apesar de termos tido uma reorientação

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-15384426472799065702011-06-30T16:33:00.000+01:002011-06-30T16:33:53.821+01:00

A propósito da intenção do Governo privatizar um dos canais da RTP (adiada para momento oportuno…) as concorrentes SIC e TVI já se pronunciaram contra essa medida: “Mercado da televisão aberta não tem condições para novo canal, dizem Pinto Balsemão e Paes do Amaral”. É normal que os canais instalados não gostem de mais concorrência, mas um dos princípios básicos do capitalismo de mercado é que

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-67101905718210336582011-06-24T18:09:00.001+01:002011-06-24T20:52:11.065+01:00

In these days, with mounting sovereign debt problems, most people claim that exports provide the way out. This is right, since one approach to deleveraging is through the sale of assets. What to sell is another question. Should you sell what you want or what you can? This depends on how pressed you are. Ideally, you start by trying to sell what you want but often you have to sell what you can.

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-9469853949112868592011-06-23T06:48:00.000+01:002011-06-23T06:48:16.632+01:00

University Men in Business was the topic of one of the earliest radio broadcasts by John Maynard Keynes in 1927. Obviously, the much discussed and little understood relation between Universities and Business is an ever-lasting theme. The talk was moderated by Sir Ernest Benn, a business man who had not attended University. The two discussants were Mr. Walls, the Managing Director of Lever Bros

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-62591412177727356222011-06-22T11:42:00.000+01:002011-06-22T11:42:06.471+01:00

Los indignados (the indignant) sit-in by young people in central Madrid and other European capitals is not just one more “youth protest”. The true grievance expressed by many protesters is not simply an adulthood ritual. Every generation of teens and youngsters needs to affirm their adulthood by contesting their parents. This is usually done by adopting different life styles, entertainments

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-22268192418237191952011-06-21T08:39:00.000+01:002011-06-21T08:39:54.057+01:00

Some thinkers often question whether a system of representative democracy will lead to government by meritocracy or mediocrity. None of the later do not necessarily follows from the first. People often chose to be represented by a mixed bag of politicians who may promote merit or ideology. And that is a positive outcome, because history has shown that the idea that governance by technical

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-6194176506559657672011-06-20T12:11:00.000+01:002011-06-20T12:11:44.813+01:00

Supostamente o novo governo tem 1/3 de ministros independentes. Para uns isso será um bom sinal mas para outros é um erro. Para avaliar as vantagens e desvantagens dos ditos independentes é preciso primeiro esclarecer o que é um independente. Existe uma grande confusão sobre o que é um independente. Para uns trata-se de uma pessoa imparcial relativamente aos partidos, para alguns é uma pessoa

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-60476156446019858312011-06-18T11:48:00.001+01:002011-06-18T18:05:34.067+01:00

Passos Coelho apresentou ontem o seu Governo. Os aspectos mais relevantes da sua composição são a “juventude” dos ministros, a total ausência de políticos experientes (com excepção de Paulo Portas) e a predominância de académicos e tecnocratas sem filiação partidária nas pastas mais importantes. Trata-se de uma mudança radical na forma tradicional de formar governos em Portugal, que

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-52202031762662418712011-06-17T12:25:00.000+01:002011-06-17T12:25:48.052+01:00

The IMF diagnostic of the Portuguese situation is broadly correct: “deep-rooted structural problems—including low productivity, weak competitiveness, and high debt—severely undermine potential growth”. To re-launch growth the adjustment program includes a set of structural reforms focused on “increasing competition, reducing labor costs, and boosting employment and productivity”. Yet the end of

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-13323339212352406962011-06-16T11:13:00.000+01:002011-06-16T11:13:06.883+01:00

The IMF/EU/BCE banking sector reforms are aimed at enhancing the resilience of the banking sector “by increasing capital requirements through market-based solutions, supported by a fully funded capital backstop facility. Safeguards to help ensure adequate banking system liquidity are strengthened. ” The key measures include: a) require banks to raise their core Tier 1 capital to 9 percent by

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-18805665708906663892011-06-15T12:03:00.002+01:002011-06-18T18:06:07.545+01:00

In our preliminary reaction to the IMF/EU/ECB €78 billion bailout for Portugal we thought it looked like too little, too late and too soft. We promised then a full verdict once the details of the program were known. This is the first part covering fiscal consolidation. In contrast with Greece, at the outset, the Portuguese program has only two criteria of quantitative performance – a General

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-57054739509509294742011-06-14T07:39:00.000+01:002011-06-14T07:39:25.087+01:00

Nas democracias representativas é essencial discutir se a responsabilização dos políticos deve ser feita exclusivamente através do voto ou se deve também ser feita ao nível judicial (civil e criminal). Discute-se também se deve abranger apenas os políticos eleitos e entre estes se deve incluir apenas os seus dirigentes máximos (Primeiro-ministro, Líder Partidário, etc.). Em Portugal tem-se

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-14989546817855340222011-06-13T11:53:00.000+01:002011-06-13T11:53:51.568+01:00

O Governo ainda não tomou posse, mas os lobbies contra as medidas acordadas com a Troika já vieram a terreno. Começam por tentar evitar o fim das chamadas Golden Shares (acções com privilégios especiais para certos accionistas, no caso o Estado). Num inquérito a alguns destacados gestores nacionais publicado hoje no Jornal de Negócios apenas um (António Carrapatoso) tomou uma posição correcta ao

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-39143883496746733522011-06-11T13:33:00.000+01:002011-06-11T13:33:32.894+01:00

Os boletins de voto das últimas eleições apresentavam uma lista excessiva de partidos políticos. Tal parece contradizer a ideia muitas vezes defendida de que para se alterar o actual regime político o país precisa de novos partidos políticos. Em contraste, também é verdade que praticamente desde 1975 temos tido apenas 4 ou 5 partidos com representação parlamentar. Estamos então perante dois

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-70025706039306357572011-06-10T09:41:00.000+01:002011-06-10T09:41:28.288+01:00

During my childhood cinema-going was still the top form of entertainment and I witnessed its decline, which was superbly described in the film “Cinema Paradiso”. Indeed, Portugal like most European countries had their golden age in the movies industry during the 1940s. It is well known that when a major industry declines due to the emergence of a new technology that creates a stronger competitor

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-30963862051596479842011-06-08T11:18:00.000+01:002011-06-08T11:18:49.109+01:00

Among the three major sectors (state, shadow and big business) encroaching on the market capitalism territory, big business represents an important threat. However, big business comes in two forms – big corporations and big private equity funds. Two representative household names in the US for the two types of organizations are Citigroup and KKR, both listed in the stock market. Of the two,

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-39633932636530466172011-06-07T20:10:00.000+01:002011-06-07T20:10:45.130+01:00

In Europe and America most people worry about the so-called Social Security time-bomb. Its ticking is usually measured by the ratio between the number of active workers to Social Security recipients. In the USA this ratio declined from 17-to-1 in 1950 to 3-to-1 today. Are you scared by this trend? Here is some arithmetic to calm you: a) The fact that now it only takes 3 workers to support

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-63886817149338275792011-06-06T11:47:00.000+01:002011-06-06T11:47:21.584+01:00

No meu post de Ano Novo exprimi dois desejos para 2011. O primeiro está satisfeito, o segundo será de mais difícil realização. Para já ficou resolvido um dos principais problemas de Portugal - a remoção de Sócrates e seus acólitos. Com um país cheio de m.…. a alimentar-se num sistema de m…. a tarefa mais urgente era remover as m…… Porém, como evitar que mudem as m….. mas a m…. fique a mesma?

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-84947509729870010032011-06-03T12:55:00.000+01:002011-06-03T12:55:08.259+01:00

In yesterday’s post we argued for limits on the rise of corporate wealth in the managerial capitalist sector. Concentration of wealth comes together with concentration of assets which necessarily reduces the scope for competitive market transactions. Since then we collected the following data which gives us an overview of the size of the sector in a selected number of countries, as measured by

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-45490893172558360112011-06-02T19:34:00.000+01:002011-06-02T19:34:54.736+01:00

Adam Smith was the first to recognize that capitalists are not the best supporters of market capitalism. As he put it: “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices”. Since then we moved from an epoch where capitalists and entrepreneurs were the same person, to

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-3298432498809759392011-06-01T16:24:00.001+01:002011-06-02T19:26:34.405+01:00

Ao saltitar entre o falso liberalismo da terceira via e um colectivismo terceiro-mundista, o Governo Sócrates parece não acertar uma única medida em matéria de legislação laboral. A publicação hoje do Decreto-lei que proíbe as empresas de oferecer estágios profissionais não remunerados é uma verdadeira aberração. Ainda mais, fixando-se a sua remuneração a um nível próximo do salário mínimo, é

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-82512396592583698572011-06-01T13:06:00.000+01:002011-06-01T13:06:34.398+01:00

A obsessão dos governos socialistas com a diminuição das taxas de abandono escolar, levou-os a criar dois monstruosos desperdícios no sistema educativo português. Por um lado institui-se um regime de quase “terror” para forçar os professores a passarem os alunos de ano lectivo e por outro criaram-se as novas oportunidades. Apesar de algumas honrosas excepções, estas visam dar

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-57652295813999652682011-05-31T11:35:00.000+01:002011-05-31T11:35:11.725+01:00

Today, at 6:30PM, the US Congress is due to vote on vote on a bill that would raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit to $16.3 trillion without any accompanying spending cuts. The idea that mandatory debt ceilings inscribed in special legislation or even in the Constitution is again the focus of strong controversy in both the USA and Europe. However, many people oppose or support the

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-17615519068406116992011-05-30T16:17:00.000+01:002011-05-30T16:17:22.270+01:00

O socialismo supostamente liberal de Guterres e Sócrates deixou o país na situação paradoxal de precisar simultaneamente de vigorosos programas de privatização e (re) nacionalização. As nacionalizações necessárias resultam fundamentalmente das seguintes práticas socialistas: 1) des-orçamentação e fuga aos mecanismos de controlo orçamental; 2) privatização de monopólios naturais; 3) encobrimento

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-13950523730923550922011-05-28T11:30:00.001+01:002011-05-28T11:32:25.535+01:00

The old fear that democracy would allow the poor to expropriate the property of the rich has never materialized. If anything, the opposite may be happening in America. Explaining this fact is one of the greatest puzzles of American politics. An interesting attempt to solve the puzzle can be found on this post by Christopher Jencks. However, in our view, the author misses two of the most

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-55140797691292727362011-05-27T11:27:00.001+01:002011-05-27T11:39:33.361+01:00

Ontem, em Assembleia Geral, 302 sócios do Beira-Mar aprovaram por maioria a criação de uma SAD controlada por um investidor Iraniano – de seu nome Majid Pishyar. Em princípio não temos nada contra o investimento estrangeiro no Futebol. No entanto, quando se trata de investidores oriundos de países sujeitos a sanções das Nações Unidas, a simples prudência dita que se averigúem as motivações de

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-54049365361484980732011-05-26T12:10:00.000+01:002011-05-26T12:10:01.451+01:00

O programa de ajustamento acordado com a Troika prevê um programa de privatizações modesto que permitirá encaixar 5.5 mil milhões de Euros durante a vigência do programa. Lembram-se que só a nacionalização precipitada do BPN custará ao Estado um montante equivalente? Ainda por cima, as privatizações serão feitas uma a uma segundo o modelo convencional. Entretanto, segundo o Jornal de Negócios, a

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-82929673242335318012011-05-25T11:28:00.000+01:002011-05-25T11:28:33.896+01:00

At least since Adam Smith, welfare economists have been aware of the limitations of their science to measure wealth. However, they have done very little to overcome the limitations of measures such as GDP, except in relation to price adjustments through the so-called purchasing power parities. Not surprisingly, some have come up with complementary/ alternative measures such as the UN Human

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-21032839428805710762011-05-24T05:58:00.000+01:002011-05-24T05:58:11.724+01:00

This month SlutWalk marches, sparked by a Toronto’s cop remark about the role of provocative dressing in rape, brought sex again to the forefront of public debate. Given the importance that sex (or the lack of it) has in our daily lives, and the fact that family relationship always come top in any surveys about human happiness, we need to explain why we did not include them among the six pillars

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3208189218633059337.post-80846836061926030482011-05-21T16:24:00.000+01:002011-05-21T16:24:03.677+01:00

Durante o período revolucionário do PREC era normal que os partidos de direita usassem algumas das palavras de ordem da esquerda. Mas, 36 anos depois do 25 de Abril, ainda terem complexos de esquerda é uma verdadeira vergonha. Alguns exemplos: O PPD/PSD em Portugal apenas usa a sigla PSD – partido social-democrata – que em qualquer parte do mundo é uma sigla de esquerda. Porém, no Parlamento

Antonio Marques Mendeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04567064917250643118noreply@blogger.com1