Social Europe articles on the economy

In this interview with Marshall Auerback of INET, Professor Richard Portes discusses the problems of Europe and then specifically drills down into Greece itself. Portes has long been clear that the policy of austerity has been counterproductive and inimical to the growth prospects of the continent. And he goes further, suggesting that the German government […]

Tax avoidance is a key problem for European countries, with the EU taking several steps to try and limit the ability of businesses to shift their profits to low-tax jurisdictions. Peter Dietsch writes on the nature of the problem and what can be done to tackle it. He argues that whatever form of regulation is […]

Last week I left home without my wallet. I soon realised it did not really matter. I could even manage without a plastic card. My phone can summon and pay for a taxi, buy a cup of coffee and purchase a train ticket. This year the proportion of transactions in Britain made in cash is likely to […]

In the debate on the Greek crisis, no cliché was too tawdry to be used and no claim too stupid or false to be made by large sections of the media and politics. Time and again, we read or heard how the “lazy Greeks” or “bankrupt Greeks” really ought to start cutting spending now. The […]

Adam Smith famously wrote of the “invisible hand,” by which individuals’ pursuit of self-interest in free, competitive markets advances the interest of society as a whole. And Smith was right: Free markets have generated unprecedented prosperity for individuals and societies alike. But, because we can be manipulated or deceived or even just passively tempted, free […]

Uber and Big Taxi are at loggerheads in Europe and all over the world, with battle lines drawn and the public and politicians taking sides. The anti-Uber response has been vigorous. In Paris, taxi drivers have smashed windows and slashed tires of Uber cars, and in London, Madrid, Berlin and elsewhere drivers have blocked traffic. […]

The notion of the credibility of policy-makers and how that creates incentives for the private sector to consume, save, invest and innovate is at the core of much of modern macroeconomics. Expectations-driven actions by the private sector are seen as the ultimate drivers of sustained economic growth that delivers jobs for all. Policy credibility requires […]

Ever since the late nineteenth century, when economics, increasingly embracing mathematics and statistics, developed scientific pretensions, its practitioners have been accused of a variety of sins. The charges – including hubris, neglect of social goals beyond incomes, excessive attention to formal techniques, and failure to predict major economic developments such as financial crises – have […]

When I was a schoolboy in Edinburgh in the 1960s, the head office of the Bank of Scotland was an imposing building on the Mound, the street that leads from Princes Street to Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile. The Royal Bank of Scotland, its arch-rival, occupied Dundas House, the finest property in the city’s […]

At last, the eurozone economy appears to be experiencing some kind of recovery. GDP started growing again in the spring of 2013, following seven quarters of decline, with domestic demand shrinking for even nine consecutive quarters between 2011 and 2013. Today, it is conceivable that within a year or so the eurozone might recoup its […]

Capitalism gets blamed for many things nowadays: poverty, inequality, unemployment, even global warming. As Pope Francis said in a recent speech in Bolivia: “This system is by now intolerable: farm workers find it intolerable, laborers find it intolerable, communities find it intolerable, peoples find it intolerable. The earth itself – our sister, Mother Earth, as Saint Francis […]

This is an interesting idea and I think that it will gradually become more popular. The idea is simple: the presence of the ideology of socialism (abolition of private property) and its embodiment in the Soviet Union and other Communist states made capitalists careful: they knew that if they tried to push workers too hard, […]