Capital and ideology: interview with Thomas Piketty
Thomas Piketty tells Robin Wilson how wealth and power can be transferred from capital to workers and citizens.
Economy
Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher driven by the core values of freedom, sustainability, and equality. These principles guide our exploration of society’s most pressing challenges. This archive page curates Social Europe articles focused on economic issues, offering a rich resource for innovative thinking and informed debate.
Eurozone reform—it’s not just the fiscal rules
At least as important is the reform of the procedure for preventing and correcting macroeconomic imbalances.
The many worlds of work in the 4.0 era
The transformation of work is not simply from jobs to automation. Its complex, variable character demands a matching policy portfolio.
New forms of employment in Europe—how new is new?
Standard employment is not simply being replaced by non-standard work. But work is becoming more diverse and policy must accordingly become more tailored.
Easing the EU fiscal straitjacket
Without major reform of the EU fiscal framework, Peter Bofinger argues, public investment will be insufficient in the wake of the pandemic.
Covid-19: more action needed to secure workers’ safety
The pandemic has highlighted how public health and workers’ safety are closely intertwined.
Collective voice for platform workers: riders’ union struggles in Italy
Autonomous unions, allied with trade union confederations, have shown how collective bargaining can be won by the precariat which employers seek to fragment.
The first global event in the history of humankind
While some talk of ‘deglobalisation’, Branko Milanovic argues that the pandemic will push forward the globalisation of labour.
Gig-life balance?
Impossible hours carved out by apps have often been presented as if self-determined ‘flexibility’ on the part of workers.
Light in the tunnel or oncoming train?
Adam Tooze argues that the frail eurozone recovery hinges entirely on its guarantee by the European Central Bank.
Breaking the impasse on corporate taxation
As Europe’s exchequers go deep into the red due to the pandemic, a co-ordinated approach to corporate taxation is ever-more urgent.
The platform economy—time for decent ‘digiwork’
Unless the platform economy becomes embedded in social norms about decent work, it threatens to rewrite society in its own image.
Shaping the future of democracy at work
Action is needed at European level to ensure workers enjoy democracy at work, particularly in the context of digitalisation.
Tax havens: patience is running out
The OECD has proved unable to tackle tax havens, so it is up to the European Union to do so.
The transformative impact of tech firms’ technologies
The potential benefits of new technologies for workplace health and safety are being vitiated by a profit-focused approach.
A proposal to legislate for the rights of platform workers
The platform corporations have just won a battle in California over classifying their workers as ‘contractors’. An EU directive is required to take the opposite tack.