Could Europe face the next recession?
The eurozone lacks the scaffolding to withstand the symmetrical shock of the next recession, which could imperil the euro itself.
What are central banks for?
The eurozone remains mired in unemployment while the European Central Bank targets only inflation. Adam Tooze begins a series of Social Europe columns by explaining the hidden history of the Fed’s more successful dual mandate.
Women under austerity—a frontal attack
Women are disproportionately dependent on public services. They can’t afford austerity and it’s time that governments recognised this.
‘Imaginable utopias’: financing a European recovery
Julio López G adds to the debate, initiated by Thomas Piketty and colleagues, on how to spur a European recovery and green transition.
Siege of Sarajevo: perpetrators of deadly attacks remain unprosecuted
Twenty-seven years since the siege of Sarajevo began, a handful of commanders have been tried, but Bosnian prosecutors have not yet filed any indictments against direct perpetrators of sniping and shelling attacks on civilians.
Chief executives’ pay: reversing the race to the top
Eye-watering remuneration for chief executives is economically wasteful as well as socially divisive. Non-profits should pioneer compressed wage hierarchies.
Capitalism and democracy: what if we have it backwards?
It has become fashionable on the left to suggest that capitalism and democracy are now incompatible. In her latest column, Sheri Berman reviews the contrary case.
Could the dollar be in default?
The US has been able to run growing budget deficits by issuing more dollars as the reserve currency. If a polycentric world ends its indulgence, the shock to America could be great.
Whistleblowers directive still needs to change
An EU directive nearing completion would protect the whistleblowers at the heart of recent scandals—but only if they reported within their organisation first.
Science and subterfuge in economics
A big argument of neoliberal economics is that unemployment is reduced by labour-market deregulation. Lack of robust evidence doesn’t seem to get in the way.
European Parliament elections: new responses in dangerous times
The European Parliament elections could see the emergence of a large populist bloc thwarting progress for the next five years. A big mobilisation is needed to prevent that.
Europeanising pensions and unemployment insurance
A European mechanism for pensions and unemployment insurance would protect vulnerable economies against asymmetric shocks and give life to the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Time for a red shift from Germany’s ‘black zero’
For a decade there has been cross-party support in Germany for the balanced-budget rule. But in the first of a series of Social Europe columns on German economic debates, Peter Bofinger explains why the social democrats should abandon the ‘black zero’.
Where the ‘Piketty plan’ is mistaken
Stuart Holland argues that what Europe needs urgently is not new institutions, as recommended by Thomas Piketty and others, but a Green New Deal.
Financing the Green New Deal in Europe
Should investment in a New Deal for Europe come from taxation or borrowing? Only the latter makes economic and political sense, argues James K Galbraith.
Portugal’s ‘contraption’ government: substance beyond the rhetoric?
The pluralist-left coalition—'contraption' to its detractors—in Portugal has changed the political discourse. Change is less evident, however, on the ground.
Will workers’ rights lose out to ‘freedom of establishment?’
Who stands for Europe: the council of member states or the parliament of the citizens? A little-noticed coming directive will once again test that issue—with workers’ rights at stake.