Social commons: the social protection we want
Universal basic income would offer a deadweight subsidy to low-paying employers. The route to security for all lies in the concept of ‘social commons’.
A basic-income floor should be part of a recovery programme
With the UK’s social safety net full of holes, support has grown for a basic income to underpin a mean and means-tested benefits system.
Fiscal regimes and equality among states
Amid talk of a ‘Hamiltonian moment’, the Next Generation EU recovery fund recalls a later US Treasury secretary as a fiscal union emerges.
Why recovery needs to have children at its centre
The pandemic and the lockdown have had serious effects on children’s wellbeing. The EU recovery plan must ensure their specific needs are addressed.
The Covid-19 crisis: inflationary or deflationary?
Peter Bofinger warns especially German inflation-phobes that deflation is a greater downside risk in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Sweden, the pandemic and precarious working conditions
Most commentary on the Covid-19 death toll in Sweden has been on the absence of lockdown, yet privatisation and precarity in eldercare should really be in the spotlight.
Sweden must be ready to support an ambitious recovery fund
Rather than locate itself in the ‘frugal four’, Sweden should support a progressive recovery plan at the coming European Council.
Science and politics: a new alliance?
The pandemic has brought science and expertise to the fore in the public sphere, as an anchor of trust—and put the populists on the back foot.
American traumas
Karin Pettersson explores the deep faultlines of unexpurgated racism tearing the United States apart.
Artificial intelligence, healthcare and the pandemic
The coronavirus crisis demands a regulatory framework for the application of AI to protect public health without jeopardising human rights.
A citizens’ conference on the future of Europe
With agreement lacking on the future of Europe—even about the conference on that theme—it’s time to look to a European Citizens’ Assembly.
Relaunching Europe by transparency
Myriad lobbyists in Brussels advocate for private interests, especially big corporations. European citizens need a less patchy framework for transparency.
A global economy in uncharted waters
Governments must learn from the financial crisis if they are not to repeat the errors of the recovery from it.
Lessons from the pandemic for the conservative welfare state
The economic crisis induced by Covid-19 has revealed the breaking points of the conservative welfare state. It is time for a reorientation.
There is no recovery without migration
The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the essential role of migration in a globalised economy. The recovery must not be jeopardised by self-harming xenophobia.
America’s unhappy middle
Branko Milanovic unpacks the malaise of the US middle class and its implications for Democratic strategy towards the presidential election.
Time to expose the reality of ‘debt market discipline’
As another sovereign-debt crisis looms, Adam Tooze warns against repeating the mistake of delegating to anonymised ‘markets’ accountable political choices.