The Three Policy Changes Europe Needs
The European economy is still in crisis. Real incomes in the Euro area are below the level of 2008 and unemployment is in the double
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.
Inequality is Falling Globally! (And Similar Nonsense)
I bet you think that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. A few well-known facts might lead you to this conclusion. For
Europe Must Escape A Savings Trap, Not A Liquidity Trap
The anti-austerity vote in the European elections reflected two different kinds of discontent. One is a feeling of frustration, which is invigorating nationalism: the vote
Rent-Seeking, Living Standards And Inequality
Rent-seeking is the activity of generating and allocating transfers between economic actors. It results in waste and inequality. The rise of rent-seeking, with its epicentre
Why Isn’t Europe More Keynesian?
It is little surprise that Europe continues to struggle to generate the economic and employment growth that would make the debt crisis more manageable. The
Real Business Leaders Want To Save Capitalism
A few weeks ago I was visited in my office by the chairman of one of the country’s biggest high-tech firms who wanted to talk
Inequality: Why Thomas Piketty Is Mostly Right
In an interview with British Politics and Policy at LSE’s editor Joel Suss and EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Amartya Sen discusses Thomas Piketty’s recent work, the consequences
Why Banking Crises Happen In America But Not In Canada
Tim Geithner’s memoir, published last month, tells us of his life as a firefighter: constantly on call to extinguish a fresh blaze. His baptism of
Creating An Innovation Society
Citizens in the world’s richest countries have come to think of their economies as being based on innovation. But innovation has been part of the
Why Is Capital In The 21st Century (C21C) Such A Success?
About a month ago — this is a true story — after a meeting of Economists Against Austerity, I hailed a taxi in Westminster (the
Angry Economics Students Are Naive – And Mostly Right
Students of economics are in revolt – again. A few years ago, even before the crisis, they established an “autistic economics” network. After the crisis,
Secular Stagnation And The Road to Full Investment
A specter is haunting the treasuries and central banks of the West – the specter of secular stagnation. What if there is no sustainable recovery
The ECB’s Troubling Future Policy Conundrum
In the German Constitutional Court ruling on the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme by the European Central Bank (ECB), judges said they were “inclined to
Piketty And The Zeitgeist
I get the same question these days wherever I go and from whomever I meet: What do you think of Thomas Piketty? It’s really two
How To Combat Inequalities Produced By Global Capitalism
Rising inequality is one of the most salient issues in global and European politics. Guy Standing writes that what we have witnessed in recent decades is not
The Mismeasure Of Technology
There is nothing better than fuzzy language to wreak havoc – or facilitate consensus. Ludwig Wittgenstein argued that philosophical puzzles are really just a consequence
Some Reflections On Thomas Piketty’s ‘Capital’
Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a six hundred and eighty-five page tome that definitively characterizes the empirical pattern of income and wealth