The Harvard Kennedy School of Government and MIT have devised a new way to forecast the economic potential of a country. Using the current level of manufacturing capabilities and network theory, researchers project how those skillsets can spread across the manufacturing "space". The Czech Republic is ranked high, and is still gaining on those ranked above. The only dark cloud on the horizon is the decline of German manufacturing prowess.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and BUSINESSEUROPE are deeply concerned about the impact of the recent European Court of Justice Judgement invalidating Safe Harbor. In this context, we urge you to expeditiously reach agreement on a strengthened Safe Harbor framework that takes into account the concerns raised by the ECJ ruling and enables data transfers between the EU and US...

"Digitization is just a basic condition for the fourth industrial revolution...The result will be new business models. This is not about having revolution without revolutionaries. We have to bring the revolutionaries up. Currently, 90% of curriculum follows old hierarchic patterns. We have to introduce cooperative solutions and interdisciplinary approach... 

OECD's annual Revenue Statistics published on 3 December shows that the average OECD tax-to-GDP ratio in 2014 was 0.3 percentage points higher than the pre-crisis level of 34.1% in 2007, and has surpassed the previous high of 34.2%, which was recorded in 2000. The average revenues from corporate incomes and gains fell from 3.6% to 2.8% of GDP over the same period. This decline was offset by an increase in social security contributions, from 8.5% to 9.2% of GDP, and a smaller increase in revenues from VAT. Compared with 2013, the largest falls of tax-to-GDP ratio were in Norway (1.4 percentage points) and Czech Republic...