The imperative of reforming EU economic governance
Finance ministers must forestall reapplication of the existing fiscal rules, to prevent a disastrous renewal of austerity.
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.
‘Women’s economics’ goes mainstream
Claudia Goldin’s Nobel prize puts women’s labour-force participation and the gender pay gap at the centre of economics.
Rethinking globalisation in an age of crises
We need to find a path to peaceful coexistence and co-operation, fixing the social and economic damage of the last three decades
US electric-car maker faces Swedish union shock
Tesla faces its first ever strike after refusing to negotiate with the Swedish trade union IF Metall.
Global tax evasion: the good and the bad news
A genuine assault on individual and corporate tax evasion, Jayati Ghosh writes, would tap vast revenue resources.
Making the twin transition: skills at a premium
The European Union Year of Skills needs to deliver a ‘right to training’ for workers.
Gender equality: focus on the world of work
A rebalanced distribution of paid and unpaid work is a prerequisite of gender equality in employment.
Pay transparency: closing the gender pay gap
In segregated labour markets, women need hypothetical comparators and collective support to make equal-pay claims.
Dangers ahead for the platform-work directive
The presumption of employment status for ‘gig’ workers has been diluted by the member states in negotiations.
Make chemical safety an EU priority
Tens of thousands of deaths in Europe are caused each year by exposure of workers to hazardous chemicals.
Collective bargaining—key to business performance
Collective bargaining does not only improve workers’ wages and conditions. It also enhances company performance.
Germany’s true economic disease
Germany is indeed ‘sick’, Peter Bofinger writes—but not for the reason most commentators think.
How finance became the problem
Finance has become the driving force behind most decision-making. We seem to have unlearned politics.
Making EU economic governance fit for purpose
Investing in the future and reforming the fiscal rules are essential, while decentralising and democratising economic governance.
Detroit, Joe Biden and a union renaissance
For decades in the US, unions have atrophied while inequality has soared. The UAW strike may be a sign of changing times.
The OECD and the Great Monetary Restriction
Stubborn attachment to monetary tightening as the cure for inflation will needlessly sacrifice economic activity and jobs.
Abuse at work: who bears the brunt?
When it comes to violence in the workplace, women and frontline workers are disproportionately the victims.