José Ortega y Gasset, one of Spain’s pre-eminent intellectuals of the 20th century, wrote in his 1922 seminal work “Invertebrate Spain” that what underpins the existence of nations is not a common history but rather a “compelling project for tomorrow”. For Ortega it was not a shared past that brought and kept diverse peoples together […]
Economic Growth Is No Longer Enough
Macroeconomic data from the world’s advanced economies can be mystifying when viewed in isolation. But when analyzed collectively, the data reveal a troubling truth: without changes to how wealth is generated and distributed, the political convulsions that have swept the world in recent years will only intensify. Consider, for example, wages and employment. In the […]
Barcelona, Terrorism And The Need For Unity
At a time of growing division, both within and across Western countries, we were reminded on the 17th of August through the pain on the streets of Barcelona of the value of unity. If the most recent attack on a European city should teach us one thing it is that our values and way of […]
Populism And The Need For A New Social Contract
The Western world is at the gates of a deep and prolonged political convulsion. What connects apparently isolated developments such as Brexit, the rise of the Front National in France, or the nomination of Donald Trump as Republican candidate to the presidency of the United States, is a broad breakdown of trust in the liberal […]
Brexit Exemplifies The Anti-Elite Era
On 23 June, the British people voted to leave the European Union. Against all odds and, above all, against all reason, one of Europe’s most moderate and pragmatic of peoples has decided to disregard overwhelming evidence that such a decision would have negative consequences for the country. Almost the entirety of the country’s intellectual, economic […]
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