Essays
Columns
Unpacking The 2013 Human Development Index
The UNDP claims ‘the Rise of the South’ is having a significant impact on economic growth and societal change. In a notable challenge to the gloom of recession in the West and all the continuing and, indeed scarcely unjustified, talk of continuing crisis, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently published its 2013 Human Development Report (HDR) [...]
The European Youth Guarantee: An Italian Perspective
The EU Parliament and other EU institutions are considering very seriously the possibility to adopt for all member states a model of management of the labor market that is typical of the Central and Northern European countries. With the obligation of the state to provide young people with a job, training or educational opportunity within [...]
A Marshall Plan For Europe
Proposal by the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) for an economic stimulus, investment and development programme for Europe. For historical reasons Germany has to be careful with giving advice to other countries. Even more so at the moment considering Germany’s dominant position within the European Union (EU). A ‘know-it-all’ manner is particularly problematic when [...]
Austere Illusions
The doctrine of imposing present pain for future benefit has a long history – stretching all the way back to Adam Smith and his praise of “parsimony.” It is particularly vociferous in “hard times.” In 1930, US President Herbert Hoover was advised by his treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon: “Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, [...]
News & Events
Gridlock – Why Global Cooperation Is Failing
Watch Professor David Held deliver a lecture on his latest book entitled “Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation is Failing When We Need it Most” as part of the Castle Lecture Series, Durham University, on 24th April 2013. You can find more information about the book here.
Discussing The Latest European GDP Figures
I was interviewed about the recent European GDP figures by CCTV America recently. This is what I had to say.
Discussing European Politics on CNBC
This morning I was again on CNBC Squawk Box Europe discussing current European politics, especially the latest banking union proposals. Strangely, on a procedural point, I found myself in agreement with Wolfgang Schäuble even though I normally disagree with him. But there you go…
Democracy, Solidarity And The European Crisis
The renowned German philosopher and sociologist Jürgen Habermas came to the University Leuven and shared his perspective on the future of a democratic Europe on April 26 2013 in the Pieter De Somer Auditorium. The lecture was introduced by the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.
EU Social Dimension Project
Proposal For A Real Social Dimension Of EMU
For many years, the European Union’s recommendations regarding economic policy have emphasized the need to lead rigorous economic policies. This is, partly, seen in the European Semester and in the country-specific recommendations in general, as well as in the economic requirements imposed on the southern European countries that have been struck very hard by the [...]
Social Europe Is The Only Solution
The current crisis of legitimacy of the EU can be traced in a path-dependent fashion to its roots in the aftermath of World War II. Subsequent historical distance has elided together the anti-fascist popular consensus across the continent after the defeat and delegitimisation of Nazism with the elite integration ‘project’ which came to fruition in [...]
What Can The Social Dimension Mean In Times Of Austerity?
Is there any topic less sexy than the ‘social dimension’? Even defining what it is can be tricky as there are many definitions out there so it tends to get mixed up with other terms. It is often used as the equivalent of ‘Social Europe’ or the ’European Social Model’. The debate also pops up [...]
What Is The Social Dimension Of The EU?
Watch Professor Martin Seeleib-Kaiser, Head of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at Oxford University, discuss the social dimension of the European Union. This video is part of the EU Social Dimension expert sourcing project jointly organised by SEJ, the ETUC, IG Metall, the Hans Böckler Stiftung, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and Lasaire.
Blogs
Global Capital And The Nation State
As global capital becomes ever more powerful, giant corporations are holding governments and citizens up for ransom — eliciting subsidies and tax breaks from countries concerned about their nation’s “competitiveness” — while sheltering their profits in the lowest-tax jurisdictions they can find. Major advanced countries — and their citizens — need a comprehensive tax agreement [...]
Structural Reforms And The G20 Economies: Promises And Pitfalls
The G20 Leaders Declaration at the Toronto Summit (June 2010) endorsed an ambitious agenda of ‘structural reforms’ cutting across both labour and product markets that would lift global output significantly, create ‘tens millions more jobs’, sustain poverty reduction and reduce global imbalances significantly.[1] The latest (18-19 April, 2013) Communique of Finance Ministers and Central Bank [...]
A Story for May Day: The Fed, Apple, And Trickle-Down Economics
The Fed’s policy of keeping interest rates near zero is another form of trickle-down economics. For evidence, look no further than Apple’s decision to borrow a whopping $17 billion and turn it over to its investors in the form of dividends and stock buy-backs. Apple is already sitting on $145 billion. But with interest rates so low, [...]
The Good Society Debate Is Thriving In Europe
The Good Society Debate, that was launched five years ago by the SPD Secretary General Andrea Nahles and the Head of the Labour Party Policy Review, Jon Cruddas MP, has certainly made a splash in Europe. According to a study by the Institute of Democracy Research of Göttingen University the debate, which has been driven by the [...]
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