Easing the EU fiscal straitjacket
Without major reform of the EU fiscal framework, Peter Bofinger argues, public investment will be insufficient in the wake of the pandemic.
Joe Biden’s missing coat-tails
Attention across the world to the US elections has focused only on the federal level. But the battle for the statehouses mattered too.
Covid-19: more action needed to secure workers’ safety
The pandemic has highlighted how public health and workers’ safety are closely intertwined.
A fair, humane and realistic asylum policy
A workable asylum policy in line with European values could be pursued by a Schengen-style coalition of the willing.
Collective voice for platform workers: riders’ union struggles in Italy
Autonomous unions, allied with trade union confederations, have shown how collective bargaining can be won by the precariat which employers seek to fragment.
Brexit and the misunderstanding of sovereignty
While the negotiators haggle over a deal to avoid a new-year car crash, the fundamental problem is the obsolete notion of sovereignty held in London.
The first global event in the history of humankind
While some talk of ‘deglobalisation’, Branko Milanovic argues that the pandemic will push forward the globalisation of labour.
Reform of global taxation cannot wait
The huge fiscal pressures occasioned by the pandemic mean global tax-gaming by corporations and the wealthy is a luxury we can no longer afford.
The Biden victory and the future of the centre-left
Postwar global progress has hinged on a transatlantic alliance of progressive parties. The election in the United States potentially opens a new chapter.
Gig-life balance?
Impossible hours carved out by apps have often been presented as if self-determined ‘flexibility’ on the part of workers.
Not part of Europe anyway?
The language of the Brexit stand-off is of a ‘level playing-field’ versus ‘sovereignty’. But beneath that, it’s about divergent social models.
Light in the tunnel or oncoming train?
Adam Tooze argues that the frail eurozone recovery hinges entirely on its guarantee by the European Central Bank.
The rule of law: a simple phrase with exacting demands
If the finger is to be pointed—rightly—at Hungary and Poland, then the EU must insist on compliance by all with universal norms.
Breaking the impasse on corporate taxation
As Europe’s exchequers go deep into the red due to the pandemic, a co-ordinated approach to corporate taxation is ever-more urgent.
Care, capitalism and politics
The coronavirus crisis has highlighted how the welfare state of the future must be built on an ethic of care rather than self-interest.
The platform economy—time for decent ‘digiwork’
Unless the platform economy becomes embedded in social norms about decent work, it threatens to rewrite society in its own image.
Greater equality: our guide through Covid-19 to sustainable wellbeing
The pandemic has reinforced the case for egalitarianism to define the ethos of the welfare state.