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Henning Meyer


Henning Meyer is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Social Europe, Honorary Professor of Public Policy and Business at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, and Research Associate at the Centre for Business Research at Cambridge University. He previously served as Chief of Staff and Director General for Policy at a German state Ministry of Finance and Science and was the first Fellow of the German Federal Ministry of Finance.

Henning Meyer

The Future of Social Democracy: How the German SPD can Win Again

Henning Meyer 20th June 2025

Social democracy can’t survive without vision. The SPD must rediscover its purpose and emotional power.

Germany’s Governance Crisis: Why State Reform Can’t Wait

Henning Meyer 4th November 2024

Facing mounting challenges, Germany’s outdated, process-bound administration must be reformed.

The emotional underpinnings of populism

Henning Meyer 18th October 2024

Peter A. Hall and Henning Meyer discuss how perceptions of fairness and economic uncertainty have fuelled populism.

A democratic model for Facebook

Henning Meyer 11th December 2018

Facebook is regularly in the news as a force disrupting democratic politics across the globe but what if democracy could be the model to save Facebook? The social network connecting 2.2 billion people has had a rocky time of late. From the alleged malevolent interference by foreign actors in the last US Presidential election via […]

Understanding The SPD’s Grand Coalition Dilemma

Henning Meyer 14th February 2018

Observers of German politics are witnessing a rather puzzling drama. More than four months after the election there is still no new government and the last hope to form one hinges on a membership ballot of the Social Democratic party. If party members vote down the coalition agreement, new elections are unavoidable. They would take […]

Understanding The Digital Revolution And What It Means

Henning Meyer 12th June 2017

The digital revolution, used here as shorthand for broader technological change, is one of today’s most hotly debated topics in politics, economics and business. It makes politicians wary about which preparatory policies to pursue, economists ponder productivity increases and trade unions think about the future of work. We are undoubtedly faced with large-scale disruptions in […]

No Need For Basic Income: Five Policies To Deal With The Threat Of Technological Unemployment

Henning Meyer 27th March 2017

The potential threat of technological unemployment is one of the most hotly debated economic issues of our times: in boardrooms and trade union offices but also increasingly amongst policy-makers. The catch-all term ‘digital’ may have been added to numerous political concepts in recent years but beyond such branding there has been very little debate of […]

Five Filters Moderate The Technological Revolution

Henning Meyer 15th July 2016

The technological revolution is one of today’s most hotly debated topics in politics, economics and business. It makes politicians wary about which preparatory policies to pursue, economists ponder vast productivity increases and the future of labor and business leaders think about how to make use of the new possibilities in their organisational environments. We are […]

Here Is Why Brexiters Are Completely Wrong On Trade

Henning Meyer 22nd February 2016

The fight for the UK to remain a member of the European Union is now fully on. The country will have a momentous decision to make on 23rd June this year. I unfortunately won’t have a vote on my future as a German living in the UK, the country I have lived and paid my taxes […]

Five Reasons Why A Basic Income Won’t Solve Technological Unemployment

Henning Meyer 4th February 2016

There has been a buzz recently about the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) and why it could be a solution to technological unemployment. VOX reported a few days ago that Y Combinator, a start-up incubator, is about to start a five-year research project on how a UBI could work. Noah Kulwin over at re/code […]

The Work And Inequality Challenge Of The Digital Revolution: How Should Governments Respond?

Henning Meyer 13th August 2015

After more than half a decade of debate dominated by the global financial crisis, 2014 saw a departure from this singular focus. Thomas Piketty started a global discussion about historical patterns of inequality and their negative repercussions. And looking to the future rather than back in time, The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and […]

How The German Government Gained 100bn From The Greek Crisis

Henning Meyer 11th August 2015

I have long been mulling over how much money the German government has actually saved as a result of the Greek/Eurozone crisis. It has been clear that crisis-driven capital inflows into Germany have led to higher demand for government bonds. As a result prices went up and yields down. If you manage a debt stock of […]

Can Proportional Representation Save The ‘United’ Kingdom?

Henning Meyer 11th May 2015

I will be writing about the Labour Party and its political soul-searching in the coming weeks. But I want to make a more general point right at the beginning of this process that will have a significant impact on how Labour, and indeed the Conservative majority government, should position itself in the new political landscape […]

A Sovereign Wealth Fund For The Eurozone?

Henning Meyer 19th November 2014

Social Europe Journal has just published its latest by Giacomo Corneo. The main argument of the paper is that the state should become a kind of investment state in order to make sure that high returns on capital do not further increase inequality but benefit the wider public. To achieve this, Corneo argues that governments should […]

If You Look At One Graph About Inequality Look At This!

Henning Meyer 29th September 2014

You might have heard about recent reports stating that global inequality is decreasing. This is a nice example of constructing the comparison according to the result you would like to see. Yes, inequality between countries has declined but the most important comparison is what is happening to inequality within countries as this tells you how the distribution system, that […]

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Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

Cohesion Policy aims to promote harmonious development and reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions of the Union, and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a particular focus on rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, regions with very low population density, islands, cross-border and mountain regions.

READ THE FULL POSITION PAPER HERE

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HESA Magazine Cover

With a comprehensive set of relevant indicators, presented in 85 graphs and tables, the 2025 Benchmarking Working Europe report examines how EU policies can reconcile economic, social and environmental goals to ensure long-term competitiveness. Considered a key reference, this publication is an invaluable resource for supporting European social dialogue.

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Ageing workforce
The evolution of working conditions in Europe

This episode of Eurofound Talks examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation.

Mary McCaughey speaks with Barbara Gerstenberger, Eurofound's Head of Unit for Working Life, who leverages insights from the 35-year history of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS).

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

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Spring Issues

The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out!


It is time to take action and to forge a path towards a Socialist renewal.


European Socialists struggle to balance their responsibilities with the need to take bold positions and actions in the face of many major crises, while far-right political parties are increasingly gaining ground. Against this background, we offer European progressive forces food for thought on projecting themselves into the future.


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss the transformative power of European Social Democracy, examine the far right’s efforts to redesign education systems to serve its own political agenda and highlight the growing threat of anti-gender movements to LGBTIQ+ rights – among other pressing topics.

READ THE MAGAZINE

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WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

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