The pluralist-left coalition—’contraption’ to its detractors—in Portugal has changed the political discourse. Change is less evident, however, on the ground. I was in a rush, running late to where I needed to be, which on 4th October 2015 was the electoral-results party of the Portuguese Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc), at Lisbon’s São Jorge cinema. […]
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European Parliament elections—battle for ‘Europe’s soul’?
The European Parliament election campaign is entering full swing—a detailed analysis of the platforms of the main European party groups and what the political consequences might be for the EU over the next five years. In his speech at the December congress of the Party of European Socialists, Frans Timmermans, the current lead candidate for the […]
Does the European Union generate external instability?
The historic achievement of peace within a Europe of universal norms is belied by the external instability engendered by violent and incoherent interventions. The European Union is justly admired for making war among its members impossible. This is no small achievement in a continent which was in a state of semi-permanent warfare for the past […]
Europe’s refugee crisis explains why border walls don’t stop migration
The US president, Donald Trump, remains in a standoff with Congress over finance for his much-vaunted Mexico barrier. Europe has learned that border walls are neither a humane nor an effective response to human flow. President Trump has long called migration a security crisis, but in recent weeks he has also referred to the situation […]
Still time to save the euro
Twenty years after the birth of the euro, the outlook is more uncertain than ever. With a waning economic upswing, unresolved problems are returning to the fore. This book focuses, alongside the euro area as a whole, on the four largest euro area countries — Germany, France, Italy and Spain. They comprise 75 percent of […]
The Swedish face of inequality
Sweden used to be revered for stemming inequality through progressive taxation and universal welfare. Now tax breaks for the wealthy and ‘free choice’ in public goods such as education cocoon the rich from the rest. What does inequality look like? In Sweden, rising inequality can be easily detected in data on income distribution. According to […]
The ‘paradox of debt’—or how to avoid austerity again
The Spanish government’s budget proposals show some break with the austerity of its conservative predecessor. But there is still an excessive commitment to the orthodoxy of rapid fiscal consolidation. Macroeconomic analysis teaches us that certain decisions which seem reasonable for an individual may have opposite results when all individuals act in a similar way—or when […]
No new narratives, please!
Massimiliano Santini’s recent article here finishes with “…the solution may be in elaborating and putting forward a new narrative. It’s the narrative, stupid!” Please, not a new narrative! That would be stupid! To cut it short: what Europe needs is credibility, not a new narrative. Europe has to deliver. The only really convincing narrative is: […]
Germany sticks to its mercantilist model
In a recent LSE blog, (reproduced here), Donato Di Carlo presents empirical evidence for what he considers a ‘quiet rebalancing’ of the German economy. Using 2010 as a reference point, he bases his argument on a comparison of the growth of real unit labour costs, real expenditures, and import-export relations of Germany vis-à-vis other European […]
Global Debt Is At Its Peak: Italy Stands Better Than We Think
In the second quarter of 2018 global debt reached a new peak, climbing to 260 trillion dollars ($260,000 billion). At the same time, the global debt to GDP ratio crossed the 320% threshold for the first time. Of that total, 61 percent (160trn) is private debt of the non-financial sector, while only 23 percent is […]
Italy And The New Eurozone Risk Morphology
It’s a well-established fact that the eurozone as a monetary union is a weird animal. Among the main reasons that surely stands out is its one-size-fits-all monetary policy that does not fail to be continually targeted by criticism from economists, politicians and other stakeholders in the various member countries. The ECB’s monetary policy interventions share […]
EUSSR: A Reasonable Analogy?
Dear Brian, Thank you for your sincere letter that I read with great interest. I respectfully disagree with many things you wrote and hence feel compelled to reply openly. It will also help me to address issues that have been raised here and there by other people. I hope you do not mind. I will […]
EU Citizens’ Involvement During The Age Of Austerity
A democratic society is characterized by the people’s electoral will. The quality of democracy is determined by the sovereign action of its citizens and the level of human rights protection. It is worth mentioning that Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human and Civil Rights (1789) notes: “Any society in which no provision is […]
Do Capitalists Still Need Consumers?
While it’s hard to come up with numbers, the delocalisation and outsourcing of production and other economic activities to low-cost countries have resulted in the loss of jobs and reduced purchasing power of workers in developed countries. The next wave of job loss is expected to be due to technology and, in particular, automation and […]
Why Has The Populist Radical Right Outperformed The Populist Radical Left In Europe?
Twenty-first century European politics has been characterised by patterns of electoral volatility, alongside the recent economic and ongoing refugee crisis. This has allowed ‘populist’ parties on both the right and left to capitalise on the electoral failure of mainstream centre left and right parties. There has been a considerable amount of research on the recent rise of populist radical right […]
Why Such Disparity Between Unemployment Rates In Europe?
Eurostat has just published its latest unemployment figures. For the EU and Eurozone. Overall, they show continuing progress though youth unemployment remains seriously high. But the statistics do not explain why some countries have much higher rates of joblessness than others with Greece posting nearly ten times the rate of unemployment as the Czech Republic […]
A European Super-PAC To Take On Bannon’s Illiberal Shock Troops
The 2019 elections for the European Parliament boil down to a war between supporters of EU integration, multilateralism and liberal values, and those who aim at a Europe of illiberal polities, often coupled with state capitalism and ethno-nationalism. In both camps, initiatives are mushrooming. Both sides have political champions and corresponding visions: French President Emmanuel […]
Brexit Is Dying. Time For A People’s Vote
Brexit will achieve what several dark and diminutive characters from history have tried, and failed, to do: draw Great Britain into the throes of grim continental vassalage. With Brexit, the EU will (inadvertently) effect by negotiation what Spain, France, and Germany have all been unable to realise through conquest. Sovereignty will be stripped away, and […]
Decentralised Collective Bargaining: Oversold
Many international economic institutions share the idea that collective bargaining should take place at the level of individual companies. For example, the OECD, as far back as its 1994 Jobs Strategy, pushed for more firm level bargaining by insisting that the instrument of administrative extension of collective agreements to all firms within a given sector […]
Illegality And Italy’s New Government
One trait that distinguishes Italy from her Western peers is the gravity and coexistence of corruption, tax evasion, and organised crime. One encouraging trait of the new governing coalition, among many concerning ones, is its pledge to fight those criminal phenomena. But one member of it, the League, was often involved in corruption scandals, has […]
Wage-Productivity Gap: Four Tales From The Eurozone
Over the last two years, economic expansion in the euro area has gathered pace. So far, improving economic conditions and falling unemployment has only translated into higher wages to a limited extent: Since 2013, GDP per capita has expanded on average by 1.2% annually while real wages have risen by just 0.7%. The conventional explanation […]
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