Arguably there has to be a ‘tipping point’ – a point beyond which social and economic crises bring forth political and social movements. The situation for many young people in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece is bleak and, this is now being reflected in the rise of new social and political movements around the semi-periphery […]
Search Results for: SPAIN
Austerity Is The Only Deal-Breaker
A common fallacy pervades coverage by the world’s media of the negotiations between the Greek government and its creditors. The fallacy, exemplified in a recent commentary by Philip Stephens of the Financial Times, is that, “Athens is unable or unwilling – or both – to implement an economic reform program.” Once this fallacy is presented as fact, it […]
We Are A Matter Of Weeks Away From A Greek Default Unless A Deal Can Be Reached
With no agreement yet reached between Greece and its creditors, there are doubts over whether the country will be able to make a scheduled debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund in early June. In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Barry Eichengreen discusses whether a compromise is still possible, what a default would mean for […]
We Need A Tobin Tax To Help Refugees
The tragedy of deaths at sea by refugees from the Middle East wars needs to be addressed resolutely. Europe cannot confront the problem with hesitant policies. Nor is it solely a European problem. The United States is necessarily involved, given its past and current presence in Middle East affairs. Half measures will not do the […]
Crisis: A Bloody Sacrifice
Crisis inevitably has a negative outcome on society as a whole: not only does it help to increase social inequality, but it is a major cause of devastating personal tragedies. Economic collapse, job loss, the inevitable family problems, the stress and the state of deep depression, social disadvantage and marginalisation that results from all of […]
Labour Party’s Economic Rethink Should Focus On Good Corporations
“We will cut spending but not as fast or as nastily as the Conservatives; we believe in a market economy but not very strongly.” These were central elements of the Labour party’s economic policies in last week’s UK general election. They do not constitute a persuasive narrative and they did not persuade. The European left has been […]
Are Trade Unions In Crisis?
Over the last few decades, trade unions in most European countries (a noteworthy exception being Belgium) have suffered a more or less drastic drop in membership – a trend that has been barely affected in either direction by the advent of economic and financial crisis in 2007. But this ‘stability’ does not go far enough […]
Greece, European Democracy And The Legitimacy Of Politics
The present debate between the Greek government led by Alexis Tsipras and the Eurogroup is not just about austerity measures, reforms, or repayments. Behind this Greek tragedy also lies a growing tension between a sharpened democratic norm of giving citizens a greater say in the formulation of governmental policies on the one hand, and a […]
Greece And Germany: What Are The Real Political Issues?
At the World Bank spring meeting in Washington federal finance minister Schäuble let it be known – almost in passing – that the Greek government had until the end of June to confirm what reforms it would make. Up till now, people had talked of the end of April as the deadline, previously of mid-March. […]
Four Key Principles For Solving The Crisis In The Mediterranean
With over 1,000 migrants in the Mediterranean feared dead following a series of incidents in recent weeks, EU Foreign and Interior Ministers agreed on an action plan on 20 April for addressing the crisis. Anna Triandafyllidou writes on the key elements underpinning the problem and outlines four key elements that a new strategic approach should consist of: […]
We Now Have Money For Nothing
The developed world seems to be moving toward a long-term zero-interest-rate environment. Though the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the eurozone have kept central-bank policy rates at zero for several years already, the perception that this was a temporary aberration meant that medium- to long-term rates remained substantial. But this may be changing, especially […]
The Eurozone’s False Recovery
At first glance, the eurozone economy seems like it might finally be on the mend. Stock markets are rallying. Consumer confidence has picked up. Lower oil prices, a cheaper euro, and quantitative easing by the European Central Bank are all expected to boost growth. ECB President Mario Draghi claims that “a sustained recovery is taking hold,” while […]
Excessive Austerity Not A Lack Of Structural Reform Is Holding Back Investment In Greece
A while ago I participated in a TV debate on Greece (German speakers can follow this link). One of the points of contention was whether investment in Greece has been structurally weak, hampered by overregulation or corruption – in short: it’s the supply side, stupid – or whether the country’s economic problems are primarily derived […]
The Eurozone Has Become A Glorified Debtors’ Prison
With no lasting solution yet found for dealing with Greek debt, and economies in the Eurozone continuing to suffer from weak growth, how can Europe finally solve the problems brought on by the financial crisis? In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Philippe Legrain discusses the policy failures at the root of the crisis, the need […]
European Economic Governance And Flawed Analysis
Getting Stupid Capital Flows Off The Hook The analytical note on the next steps for better economic governance that was published mid- February during the informal European Council reopens the discussion on how to obtain a strict coordination of national economic policy making in the Euro Area. Or, to put it more bluntly, how to […]
The Tale Of Lazy Greeks
Angela Merkel proclaimed at an early stage that the Greeks could not retire earlier and have longer holidays than the Germans. Der Spiegel’s interpretation was: “We aren’t going to give our hard-earned German money to lazy southern Europeans.” Sweden’s Minister of Finance, Anders Borg, echoed this whilst on the way to an EU meeting: “Obviously, Swedes […]
Eurozone Fiscal Policy – Still Not Getting It
The impact of fiscal austerity on the Eurozone as a whole has been immense. In my recent Vox piece, I did a back of the envelope calculation which said that GDP in 2013 might be around 4% lower as a result of cuts in government consumption and investment alone. This seemed to accord with some model […]
This is Recovery? Germany, ‘Powerhouse’ In Need Of A Jump-Start
The German government has been a strong supporter of austerity programmes, arguing that the associated goals of deficit and debt reduction provide the best, if not the only, route to economic recovery in Europe. Some writers reach back to the hyper-inflation of the 1920s to explain this faith in the virtues of belt-tightening. Recent release […]
The Varoufakis vs Schäuble Endgame
As many analysts and observers previously predicted (myself included on Social Europe), the eurozone crisis not only is not over, as some European leaders had boasted, but it has returned in a more virulent form. The possibility of a Greek exit – Grexit – from the eurozone is closer than ever. The current standoff between Greece […]
Reforming Greek Reform
Greece’s new government, led by the anti-austerity Syriza party, presents the eurozone with a challenge that it has not yet had to face: dealing with national officials who are outside the traditional European mainstream. Syriza is in many ways a radical party, and its views on economic policy are often described as hard left; but […]
Has Barack Obama Prevented Grexit?
Will Greece default and leave the euro? On this compound-question market opinion has swung back and forth, particularly since last Wednesday’s announcement by the ECB that it would no longer accept Greek Central Bank Bonds as collateral for regular funding replenishments (although the ECB’s more expensive ELA funding window remains open). This was the ‘nuclear […]
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