Belgium's Economy: World's 20th Freest Economy

Germany has not only a robust economy, but has an aspect of freedom of regulation and investment from the government and personal shareholders.

Trading between Belgium and Canada has been made easier ever since Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the European Union agreed on a trade agreement in 2013 that would benefit both countries economically by creating new businesses and making trade easier.

Nevertheless, the country has favorable business laws and policies. For instance, it passed an ambitious Tax Law in 2005. This Law requires the state to use a standard corporate income tax rate of 16%; the lowest in the EU. This is a good legal incentive to businesses (Receanu, 2010). The Company Law also allows foreign investors to fully participate in the Romanian companies without any form of restriction. At the same time, foreign investments are not subjected to nationalization and requisitions unless it becomes public interest. Therefore, despite political instability, Romania has business laws that favor foreign investments.

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium is a sovereign state in Western Europe. Belgium is one of 28 members of NATO, which is based in Brussels, Belgium. They are basically all allies, when a country attacks a member everyone else helps defend that country. Belgium is also a founder of the European Union. It has a Constitutional Monarchy is a type of government in which governing powers of the monarch are restricted by a constitution. The closest allies to Iceland are Norway, Canada and the United States.

The World Factbook also informs readers that 100% of the population is literate- those of age 15 and over can read and write- and the total unemployment rate, in 2012, was 6% (The World Factbook). The National Tourist Board’s Visit Luxembourg Webpage asserts that the national language of Luxembourg is Luxembourgish. Nevertheless, the country’s administrative languages also include French and German and English is widely spoken (Visit Luxembourg). To commence a discussion of Luxembourg’s values and customs, the Webpage Countries and Their Cultures states that women have full political and economic equality (Luxembourg). The Expatica Website elaborates more on the topic of values by explaining that family is the most important consideration and although Luxembourg is part of the European Union, Luxembourgers have strong national pride and they value their independence and autonomy (Culture and social etiquette in Luxembourg).

New Belgium’s revenues for last year totaled 111 million dollars. This represents a 16% growth from the previous year.

Economic freedom is an important characteristic to consider when choosing a new country to move to. Economic freedom indicates how easy it is for an individual to secure and protect their own resources and property without governmental intervention. Countries with high levels of economic freedom are ideal when it comes to people searching a country where they can prosper financially. In 2017, Australia receive a score of 90 on a 100 point scale, regarding its level of financial freedom, from The Heritage Foundation. This rating not only represents an individual’s ability to be successful in the country, but also their ability to maintain their financial success.

In Luxembourg the minimum wage is higher, the basket of goods is more expensive, the households are more expensive and the health-care system is considered as one of the best in the world.

When looking at Dutch success, I believe we first have to look at its geographical advantage, economic innovation, and its religion. The exponential growth and industrial output that the Dutch enjoyed came on the heel of prolonged industrial decline and when most European industries were failing. Unfortunately for Spain, there lay a significant geographical distance between themselves and the Dutch, making it difficult to keep control of the region. The low land geography of the Dutch Republic pushed for innovation to preserve and maintain their land from the sea through the construction of dikes, polders, drainage systems, and windmills. This also became advantageous in defending their region during their war with Spain because they were able

Plus Belgium has been invaded a lot of times. A reason that Switzerland may seem to be immune to ethnic conflict is because it has really been invaded so Switzerland on the other hand has not been invaded for many centuries. Therefore there is no bad feeling in Switzerland toward any groups of hostile ethnic warriors. Plus when it comes to external problems and wars Switzerland remains very neutral not taking any sides.

The past 30 years have been filled with great change and turmoil for many of Europe’s countries. The rise and fall of the USSR as well as widespread communism throughout Europe deeply effected many nations and forever changed the course of their economies. Independence came with a sigh of relief but also a lingering question of how to effectively reenter a market that had been inaccessible for years. Coming up with a plan to transition into the global economy was difficult, and once established implementation was even harder. New policies and reforms were met with resistance and many nations had to work hard to erase the lingering effects of communism from within their economy. Nevertheless, this hard work, in many cases, did pay off and ultimately

The United States is known to operate in a free market economy. In other words, the economy is based solely on supply and demand with little to no government control. In reality, however, the United States has various government regulations on our country’s market. The amount of regulation that is necessary is a continuing debate among politicians and economists to this day. Some would say that the key to a successful market economy is to remove government restrictions in order to force businesses to provide superior products and services at affordable prices. Yet, others assert that government regulations are essential in protecting consumers, stemming from the assumption that corporations are not always looking out for the public’s interest. Of course, there are various advantages and disadvantages associated with each level of regulation, however it is safe to assume that there must be a balance between an unregulated free market and a regulated economy in order to protect people and the environment and allow the economy to flourish.

Music is a part of everyday life. Musical genres in Belgium vary from the classical to hip hop. Many famous classical composers are Belgian Cesar Franck, Guillaume Lekeu and Wim Mertens were born in Belgium. The jazz scene in Belgium has attained international acclaim with popular bands such as Octurn, Maak's Spirit, and Aka Moon. The most renowned jazz musicians in Belgium are guitarist Philip Catherine and harmonicist Toots Thielemans. Popular Belgian bands include Hooverphonic, Axelle Red, Vaya Con Dios, and K's Choice. As for Belgian hip hop they have Starflam, CNN0 and Stormae

Germany is seen as the economic leader of the 17-nation eurozone. Berlin has had a considerably better public debt and fiscal deficit relative to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the most affected eurozone members. The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, insisted on ‘austerity’ by the affected states, especially worst-case Greece, rather than ‘bailout’ with external help. Thus, resulting in a polarized euro-opinion divided between the ‘austerity’ school and the more populist ‘growth’/bailout school. Germany’s action will be key to both the eurozone’s and the euro’s survival. She [Angela Merkel] rejected renegotiations of a fiscal pact on Europe’s belt-tightening, yet seemed open to talks on growth in a CNBC interview. She said,

Consumer prices in Switzerland decreased by 1.4 percent year-on-year in October of 2015, the same pace as in the previous month and matching market expectations. Prices of housing, accommodation fell further, while cost of food and transportation dropped at a slower pace. In contrast, prices of clothes and footwear increased. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased by 0.1 percent, following the same growth in the previous month, mainly due to higher prices of clothing, footwear and new cars. Inflation Rate in Switzerland averaged 2.51 percent from 1956 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 11.92 percent in December of 1973 and a record low of -1.40 percent in August of 2015. Inflation Rate in Switzerland is