European integration began as a political project to institutionalize peace and cooperation, with the Coal and Steel Community the initial step. In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, roughly coinciding with the end of the Cold War, priorities changed – from peace and cooperation to trade competitiveness. The Treaty on European Union (TEU) formalized […]
Free Markets And The Decline Of Democracy
“We gather today in the year marking the 50th anniversary of the Union for Radical Economics and of the first issue of the Review of Radical Political Economics in which Michael Zweig and I had the lead articles, a publication with the rather modest appearance of coming straight off the mimeograph machine – if there […]
EU Takes Beating In Italian Elections: When Will They Ever Learn*?
Sending a Message In Chapter 5 of the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Judeo-Christian Bible, mysterious writing begins to appear on a plaster wall during a feast presided over by the Babylon king Belshazzar. When none of the king’s wise men can interpret the writing, the Jewish captive Daniel provides its […]
May’s Brussels Agreement Means No-Going-Back
In early December UK Prime Minister Theresa May reached a “phase 1”, “significant progress” agreement with the European Commission, the agency responsible for negotiations on the EU side. Much of the media and most UK politicians, both pro- and anti-EU made much of the ambiguities and lack of clarity over key issues in the agreement. […]
Social Pillar: Time For Principled Opposition To Austerity Consensus
On 17 November in Gothenburg, Sweden, EU leaders met for a “social summit”, presided over by Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, who had also attended the previous one 20 years before. According to the official press release, a central purpose of this gathering of heads of government and EU officials was to proclaim […]
This is Progress? Electoral Shocks, Catalunya And The Union
False Optimism from Brussels On September 13 in Strasbourg, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker delivered his annual “state of the Union” address. Early in that speech, he assured his listeners: “We continue to make progress with each passing day”. I cannot help but wonder if President Juncker would now venture that same optimism, which […]
National Fiscal Flexibility: EU Parliament Plans a Big Step Backwards
I and many others have argued that the basic EU treaties have flexibility to accommodate most social democratic policies such as those in the 2017 Manifesto of the UK Labour Party. Our argument may soon suffer a decisive blow from the EU parliament. In March 2012 twenty-five EU national governments signed the Treaty on Stability, […]
Brexit And The Status Quo Ex-Ante
Where we are At the end of August Britain’s Labour Party formally announced its policy towards future relations with the European Union. The policy document explicitly “accepts the referendum result” and will “build a close new relationship with the EU”. The British media chose to emphasize not EU employment rights or environment protections but Labour’s […]
Fallacies of Brexit: Personifying Countries & Simplistic Polemics
Babbling Brexit The British media provides a consistently misleading version of the process of UK disengagement from EU membership. The term used for this process, “Brexit”, is itself a substantial source of misguidance and obfuscation. The consistently poor reporting and misinterpretation have a clear cause. The British media continues to fight the in/out battle rather […]
“I’m All Right, Jack” In The Eurozone
False Dawn Those of my generation will remember well 1959’s hilarious and biting satire on the British class system, “I’m all right, Jack”, which included several of the country’s most famous and best-loved comedy actors (Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, Terry Thomas and Margaret Rutherford, plus the future president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, […]
Smooth Brexit In Interests Of Germany As Much As UK
There is a general perception in the UK that the remaining EU states, and Germany especially, would like to punish Britain for withdrawing from the European Union. This would mean Britain out in the cold, no trade deal, and potentially a fine to make up for lost payments. The problem here is that it is generally […]
Brexit, The UK Economy And Public Policy: Discredit Where Discredit Is Due
In the wake of the formal invoking of Article 50 by Prime Minister Theresa May, no one knows with certainty the impact on the UK economy of leaving the European Union. Claims of imminent damage and possible disaster should be treated at best as informed speculation and at worst as more of the dysfunctional fear […]
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