The Charlie Hebdo Attack And What It Reveals About Society
You went through the tragedies of the 20th century – two wars, Shoah, Stalinism. What’s the specificity of the islamic extremist threat we’re facing today, in
Why The EU Should Focus On Realistic Social Policy Projects
Inequality is back at the centre of the public discourse. Is this good or bad news for the European Union? Most contributions to this Social
The Issue Is Not Greece: It’s Europe
At long last, the United States is showing signs of recovery from the crisis that erupted at the end of President George W. Bush’s administration,
Stockholm Syndrome Social Democracy
The recent social democratic playbook is depressingly familiar: first, campaign on a demand stimulus and/or an end to austerity. Second, upon winning (usually by the
Greek Elections, Democracy, Political Trilemma, and all that
Two-and-a-half years ago I wrote a short piece titled “The End of the World as We Know It” which began like this: Consider the following scenario. After
Calling The Grexit Bluff
After several years of institutional adaptation triggered by the sovereign debt crisis, and a total amount of disbursement of more than 230bn euro, Greece is
Democracy And The Erosion Of The Centre Ground
According to the simple two-party voting model of Anthony Downs, democracy privileges the centre ground: parties compete to attract the median voter. This is no
What The EU Could Do To Eradicate Ebola
Imagine the first Ebola outbreak in 1976 had been in a rich part of the world. Somewhere near London, Brussels, Osaka, Sydney or Chicago. No
The Greek Election 2015 – Revolt Of The Debtors
The Greek debt crisis that erupted in 2010 is back and again threatens the stability of the Eurozone. That crisis was the result of two
It’s Now Or Never: More Social, Less Europe in 2015!
To put it bluntly: Europe, more precisely, the European Union, has not delivered for decades now. The Union safeguards the interests of the employers and the
Economics Has To Come To Terms With Wealth And Income Inequality
Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz has been writing about America’s economically divided society since the 1960s. His recent book, The Price of Inequality, argues that this
Good And Bad Inequality
In the pantheon of economic theories, the tradeoff between equality and efficiency used to occupy an exalted position. The American economist Arthur Okun, whose classic
Social Europe Needs A New Social Democracy
As 2014 draws to a close, Europe’s economies remain stuck in second gear and feeble growth cannot compensate for the loss of output and jobs
Why TTIP Has To Be Rethought
The current debate about the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union and the United States concerns a number of contested
Reducing Inequality: Social Europe And Cohesion
‘Social Europe’ implies for most experts the development of national welfare states and their protection against the forces of globalization and international competition as most
Access To Healthcare In Times Of Crisis
The crisis has had an important impact on hugely complex healthcare systems, interacting with, and sometimes dominated by, other major drivers of change. Maintaining access
Social Europe Needs A Positive Vision
In his magisterial One Hundred Years of Socialism, Donald Sassoon described how, under the influence of the 19th century German leader Karl Kautsky, the European