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Economy


Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher. We use the values of freedom, sustainability and equality as the foundation on which we examine society’s most pressing challenges. We are committed to publishing cutting-edge thinking and new ideas from the most thought-provoking people. This archive page brings together Social Europe articles on the economy.

Social dialogue in central and eastern Europe

Martin Myant 2nd February 2023

Union recognition can be a tough battle in EU member states in central and eastern Europe.

Military secrets and the World Trade Organization

Ugo Pagano 1st February 2023

A world at peace depends on making knowledge which could be of military as well as commercial value a public good.

Behind Britain’s strike wave

Paul Mason 23rd January 2023

The Tory government, Paul Mason writes, is a victim of the skills shortages its ‘free markets’ have engendered.

Unions are giving workers a European voice in the crisis

Isabelle Barthès and Patricia Velicu 19th January 2023

Trade unions have been winning battles across Europe to halt the erosion of real wages but can’t win this war alone.

Corporate power: arbitrage in a fractured world

Anastasia Nesvetailova 18th January 2023

At Davos the corporate elite are discussing a more co-operative world—yet their arbitrage relies on its rifts.

How not to deal with a debt crisis

Jayati Ghosh 16th January 2023

Jayati Ghosh warns against historically disastrous approaches to the sovereign-debt crisis hitting low- and middle-income countries.

Will NextGenerationEU assist Europe’s cohesion?

Daniele Archibugi 16th January 2023

Addressing Europe’s huge challenges requires treating Europe as more than the sum of its national parts.

Gendering labour time—regulating domestic work

Liberty Chee 11th January 2023

Too few countries have ratified the ILO convention on domestic work. Too many don’t see the need.

Democracy and the future of work

Christophe Sente 4th January 2023

Anxiety about the state of democracy amid political polarisation should direct us to an unexpected answer—economic citizenship.

Pay transparency yes, but we need more for equal pay

Kalina Arabadjieva 3rd January 2023

The gender pay gap is stubborn because several factors underpin it. Action is needed on all of them.

A feminist view of working-time reductions

Katy Wiese 3rd January 2023

Reducing working time is necessary to decouple work from growth. Well designed, it could redistribute care more evenly.

Tackling the cost-of-living crisis

Robin Wilson 20th December 2022

Inflation is a number. But addressing it is not just a technical issue, best left to (usually male) economists.

The digital euro: a flawed concept doomed to flop

Peter Bofinger 19th December 2022

Peter Bofinger argues that on the ‘digital euro’ the European Central Bank has dug itself into a hole it would do best to vacate.

ECB lobbies for banks, instead of supervising them

David Hollanders 19th December 2022

The ECB has taken upon itself to challenge the Spanish government over a temporary tax on the profits of commercial banks.

Social-ecological public procurement

Susanne Wixforth and Christian Berger 15th December 2022

The vast sums disbursed in procurement and subsidies by public institutions must lever good work amid the green transition.

Taxing super-profits to beat inflation, defend rights

Magdalena Sepúlveda 9th December 2022

Pandemics, wars and recessions do not exempt states from human-rights commitments. They must tax multinationals and the richest more to protect the most vulnerable. 

Political leaders sabotaging corporate sustainability 

Sylvia Obregon Quiroz 8th December 2022

EU member-state governments have flinched at the challenge of enforcing responsible business conduct.

Inflation: free markets or freeriding?

Susanne Wixforth and Kaoutar Haddouti 7th December 2022

Companies with market power are increasing prices beyond rising energy costs—because they can.

Global income inequality: time to revise the elephant

Branko Milanovic 5th December 2022

New data on inequality show probably the greatest reshuffling of world incomes since the industrial revolution, Branko Milanovic writes.

Unpacking self-employment ‘flexibility’

Robert Donoghue 5th December 2022

Platform companies trumpet the ‘freedom’ their ‘independent contractors’ enjoy. They misrepresent what freedom is.

The monetary tightening trap

Jayati Ghosh 17th November 2022

The over-reliance on interest-rate increases will likely lead to economic disaster in low- and middle-income countries.

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