CNE Monatsmagazin Digest
January 2005

English Summary

Eight at once ... When the German Hayek Society honoured its patron on the occasion of his 100th anniversary in 1999 with a breviary nobody has dreamt of having a series of excellent eight breviaries of the masters of economic philosophy. Apart from German-speaking thinkers, such as Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich August von Hayek, Wilhelm Röpke, and Ludwig Erhard, the series includes Adam Smith and David Hume and French-speaking authors Frédéric Bastiat and Benjamin Constant.

The omniscient doctor ... In its report, "Why Greater Freedom of Patient Information in European Healthcare Could Save Lives and Money", the Centre for the New Europe (CNE) proposes that freedom of patient information should be allowed throughout the European Union and that European citizens should have the right to receive full information about health care products from all available sources. If adopted, it is estimated that global healthcare costs in the United Kingdom could fall by as much as £109 million per year, and throughout the European Union as a whole by as much as 437 million Euros, say report's authors Dr. Tim Evans, Alberto Mingardi, and Stephen Pollard.

Princess on the lens … For some time Princess Caroline of Monaco has been popping in and out of courts around Europe to stop photographs being taken of her shopping, says Tessa Mayes. "Nobody can photograph La Princess in the street without her consent - and that includes all streets in European countries (including Britain) that recognise the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It also means that potentially any other individual with a case for privacy could use the law to this end."

Grandfather Frost ... "What energizes all these false prophets of doom and their demands for immediate drastic action? Simply put, profits and power", says Paul Driessen. "Global warming is big business. The U.S. government ladled out $15 billion on global warming research and "education" between 1992 and 2000. The United Nations spent billions more, as did the European Union, and big foundations provided hundreds of millions more.

Little Red Riding Hood and mad Robin Hood ... The Luxembourg-based European Court of First Instance ruled that "Microsoft has not shown that it would suffer serious and irreparable damage should implementation of the decision not be suspended." In other words, the court conceded that Microsoft will suffer a damage once the decision of the European Commission is implemented. But the damage is seen as not serious and irreparable, hence the Court finds itself not urged to do what is necessary, i.e. safeguard Microsoft against that damage by suspending the implementation of the decision. Fine logic, isn't it? For in the future, mobsmen may take up for themselves that the lady whose pocket money they have stolen (or will steel) has not suffered (or will not suffer) a serious and irreparable damage".

Jekyll and Hyde ... In the title of his new book, L'erreur économique, the author alludes to Vivianne Forrester's best-seller "L'horreur économique". But his concern is a much more serious one. He explains why the application of the methods of the natural sciences in the social sciences, mainly in economics, is misleading, says Edgar Gärtner in his review of the newest book of CNE Senior Fellow Philippe Simonnot.

Click here to view the full Monatsmagazin in German.

Dr. Hardy Bouillon is Head of Academic Affairs at the Centre for the New Europe.