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December 4th, 2012

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Central bank criticises proposed opposition tax cuts
Central bank governor Nils Bernstein has criticised opposition party Venstre’s plan to reduce taxes in order to achieve lower wage demands and increase competitiveness. Bernstein, who steps down as head of Nationalbanken in January, doesn’t believe that taxes can be reduced much more than the current level without first reducing expenditure. Before Venstre’s national congress last month, former finance minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen proposed reducing taxes to a level comparable with Sweden, while wages should be lowered to those offered in Germany. – Jyllands-Posten

More working overtime
Every fourth Dane works considerably during their spare time, and only 50 percent of people don’t work at all outside their scheduled work hours, according to an Epinion/DeFacto survey. The main reason for all the overtime is that the employees say they can’t manage to complete their assigned tasks within working hours. A representative for Djøf, a union for lawyers and economists, called the news “eye opening”, and suggested that the concept of working nine-to-five was becoming outdated. – Politiken

New school reform draws student ire
Student advocacy organisation Danske Skoleelever has lambasted teachers and members of parliament for focusing on their own needs, rather than students’. The government’s proposed education reform, which is due to be unveiled today, will see children spend more time in school, start English classes earlier, and be given more hours in Danish and maths, while it will also become obligatory for schools to offer their students homework assistance. – MetroXpress

Danes to map pollution
Danish scientists look to become the first in the world to map the complete circulation network of nitrogen and its by-products such as ammonia, nitrous oxide and nitrate. The mapping will allow the agricultural sector to increase the efficiency of nitrogen fertiliser significantly, to the benefit of the environment and climate through a process called 'pollution swapping’, in which the release of a pollutant can be increased as a result of measures to reduce it elsewhere. According to an EU report, nitrogen pollution of water, soil and air costs between one and five thousand kroner per person every year. – Ingeniøren

Weather
Cloudy with some snow. Maximum day temperatures around -1 C, minimum night temperatures around -7 C. Windy at times. – DMI