Our shrinking economic toolkits
For four decades, mainstream economists and policymakers have been wedded to fixed dogmas. Their blind belief in fiscal discipline threatens the very stability of societies.
The Goulard case—a rap on the knuckles for Emmanuel Macron
The rejection by the European Parliament of Slyvie Goulard as French commissioner showed that ‘it’s France’ is not a sufficient excuse for special treatment.
Can Europe help the Balkans keep its young emigrants?
High emigration rates are doing massive damage to the prospects of the western Balkans—would a stronger EU perspective reverse this outflow?
Western Balkans need accession-talks signal from EU
Access for the states concerned, most immediately for North Macedonia and Albania, would be many years off—but the symbolism is important.
Is it time to ban political advertising on Facebook?
Karin Pettersson argues that ‘free speech’ is not a licence for politicians relying on rage to lie, and for such lies to be amplified by ‘social media’.
Ireland’s recovery: from bust to buoyancy … to Brexit?
If procyclical domestic policies inflated Ireland’s economic bubble, procyclical austerity demanded by the troika which bailed it out makes Ireland’s recovery all the more remarkable.
The limits of the nationalist left
The nationalist left offers one response to neoliberal globalisation. The wrong one.
Wellbeing: an economy that works for children?
A Child Guarantee can be a second launchpad for investing in children.
Time to act to leave no child behind
Children without or at risk of losing parental care represent a stain on Europe’s moral conscience.
Preventing digital feudalism
Reforming the digital economy so that it serves collective ends is the defining economic challenge of our time.
A Green New Deal beyond growth
A genuine European Green New Deal must place social justice and ecological protection ahead of fiscal discipline and economic growth.
A novel European Green New Deal to tackle climate change
Support has been surging on both sides of the Atlantic for the idea of a Green New Deal. Time to turn it into action, and jobs, on the ground.
The parliamentary election in Poland—the future at stake
Whether the coming election in Poland will consolidate the monopoly of the national-conservative PiS or favour a more pluralist balance of power, it will have a significant impact on Polish political culture.
Portuguese elections: Socialists expected to return to power but without a majority
The Portuguese governmental ‘contraption’ has turned out to be surprisingly enduring—so much so that it may face another term
Ireland’s route from boom to bubble to bust
Ireland’s volatile economic path of recent decades has wider European policy implications. Part one: the ‘Celtic Tiger’ and its demise
Should we worry about income gaps within or between countries?
The rise of populist nationalism throughout the west has been fuelled partly by a clash between the objectives of equity in rich countries and higher living standards in poor countries.
Grosse Koalition, small Klimapaket
Much was expected of the new climate package negotiated by the grand-coalition government in Berlin. Less was delivered.