People Want Economic Change but Have Stopped Trusting Governments to Deliver It
While two-thirds say that democracy is the best way to govern, four in ten say a strong leader would serve their country better.
Politics
Analysis and debate on European and national politics, democracy, the rule of law, parties and elections, and Europe’s place in the world.
Services Now Outpace Manufacturing as the Engine of Development
In India, a worker who leaves the factory floor for services now adds more to national income.
Orbán’s Propaganda Machine Lost Because Fidesz Believed Its Own Story
Richard Demeny and Péter Krekó
Fear of war among Hungarians fell from 46 to 29 per cent as Peter Magyar reframed the election.
Europe’s AI Revolution Runs on Public Infrastructure
One planned German data centre will draw as much electricity as 600,000 households and employ around 120 people.
Europeans Are More Pragmatic About AI Than Their Prophets
Half of Americans say AI already harms society, against just 35 per cent across continental Europe.
California Rewrites the Welfare State While Europe Looks Away
Christophe Sente and Timothée Duverger
Trump and Sanders now converge on sovereign funds holding corporate shares, scrambling familiar ideological lines.
Tesla Outlasted the World’s Strongest Union Movement
After 1,027 days, severance deals with confidentiality clauses emptied the picket line at Sweden’s Tesla workshops.
Europe Promised to Protect Its Nurses From Hazardous Drugs and Has Not Delivered
Only two per cent of surveyed nurses have been tested for the hazardous drugs they handle at work.
Fascism Does Not Begin With Murder but With the Pleasure of Imagining It
Leo Löwenthal warned that far-right agitation turns psychoanalysis on its head, making followers paranoid rather than healing them.
Europe Needs a Plan for Russia After Putin
With 450,000 Russian dead and negotiation impossible, Europe’s only real leverage is patience backed by power.
Von der Leyen’s State of the Union Must Speak to Workers, Not CEOs
Europe spends €2 trillion a year on public contracts, most awarded to the lowest bidder, fuelling precarious work.
Isaiah Berlin’s Negative Liberty Now Fetters Progressive Politics
Two decades of bold reform followed the 1970s crisis; since 2008, next to none. Blame an idea.
America’s Fiscal Crisis Is Europe’s Chance to Build a Treasury Market of Its Own
The EU should seize the moment to gain strategic autonomy by creating its own safe asset.
The Sound of Children Playing Is Not Industrial Noise
A 192-year-old Bairro Alto nursery registers just over 40 decibels by day; the surrounding bars hit 70 at night.
Ceuta Is Europe’s Berlin Wall Moment — Run in Reverse
Like Berlin in 1989, Ceuta was an accident of history — but Europe’s response may entrench its walls.
Europe’s Cities Were Designed For A Climate That No Longer Exists
At least 10,000 Europeans died in a single week of June — and the response starts with street design.