Sharing the technology wealth
Big Tech firms flagrantly disregard the implicit social contract—the time has come to curb their market power.
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.
Corporate due diligence: a global-south perspective
Two Pakistani trade unionists explain in interview why the EU supply-chain directive must be unblocked.
‘Building back better’: a promise fulfilled?
Three years on, the lesson of the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund is that building economic resilience is a long-term endeavour.
European Works Councils: on a road to further reform
The latest proposals from the European Commission could put European Works Councils on a firmer footing.
Technological development: valuing labour
Technological innovation at work should be thought of in terms of supporting labour, not supplanting it.
Ukraine is quietly abandoning neoliberalism
Kyiv’s need for self-defence has pushed the country towards far-reaching expansion of the state’s economic role.
Can the IMF and the World Bank really be changed?
Those with seats at the table of the international financial institutions, Jayati Ghosh writes, cling to their power.
Becoming like Germany: hurdles and dilemmas
The new EU fiscal rules being finalised would still leave central- and eastern-European states such as Latvia in a bind.
Taxing wealth to break billionaire dominance
As men in expensive suits discuss running the world at Davos this week, taxation can rein in their power.
Germany: the ‘sick man’ of Europe—but ‘dumb’ as well?
The austerity package stemming from an adverse Constitutional Court ruling, Peter Bofinger writes, defies logic.
The German debt brake—reform urgent
The Schuldenbremse is often depicted as a bulwark against inflation. Actually, it can contribute to rising prices.
AFL-CIO/Microsoft AI partnership: model to copy?
Workers must have a collective voice in the design of artificial-intelligence systems for the workplace.
A warning to Scrooges: cut long working hours
A right to disconect, collective bargaining and public procurement are the levers to reduce excessive working hours.
Competition policy: turn to the labour market
Weak competition on labour markets means wages are often set below the market-clearing level.
EU fiscal rules: time to face the contradictions
The new version of the pre-pandemic fiscal rules, if imposed, would jeopardise the European economy.
The shadow of austerity—and authoritarianism
European trade unions are mobilising today in Brussels against the austerity which would follow reimplanted fiscal rules.
Central-bank independence: the beginning of the end?
Rising interest rates have devalued central banks’ assets, creating demands for recapitalisation. Time for a debate.