debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
European social democracy needs a fresh start. In the wake of the most severe economic crisis in decades it became clear that social democrats have not paid enough attention to the development of a real political alternative to the dominant free market orthodoxy. When the demand for an alternative politics was there social democrats had [...]
The international climate negotiations in Copenhagen are just a few days away and we can already see parties moving towards the final showdown. Debates about national commitments are heating up and diplomatic efforts are getting more and more serious. Despite this growing attention, public debates are primarily concentrating on the nature of reduction targets, on [...]
The battle-lines are already drawn up over when to begin withdrawing the stimulus measures that appear, for the moment, to have averted the widely feared global economic meltdown: on the one hand the inflation and deficit hawks who cannot wait for monetary policy to return to normal, and for fiscal policy to reign in the [...]
I haven’t seen the movie yet but this interview with Michael Moore is quite interesting…
So the Irish voted “yes” and barring any last minute grandstanding from Vaclav Klaus, we will finally get the Lisbon Treaty. The debate now is about who will get the big jobs, starting with the full-time Presidency of the Council. Tony Blair is the hot favourite and would, in my view, be excellent for the [...]
Angela Merkel´s recent victory confirms what many already knew – Europe´s social democratic parties have failed to distill any political benefit from the association between the right’s reverence for unfettered markets and the economic crises that grip the continent. Historically, Europeans turn to conservatives in times of crisis. But today, the situation is more complex. [...]
I have just stumbled across this speech by Jon Cruddas held at this year’s Compass conference. I couldn’t go at the time because I was on holiday. It’s well worth watching! Part 1 Part 2
The tectonic plates of the global economy are beginning to settle into a new alignment. At Pittsburgh it was announced that henceforth the G20 would replace the G8. At Istanbul, where I have just been, Stanley Fischer, currently Governor of the Central Bank of Israel and hugely influential, used the Annual Meetings of the IMF [...]
Apparently there was a giant postcard going round at the Conservative Party Conference to collect signatures asking Czech President Vaclav Klaus to block the Lisbon Treaty until mid-next year so a potential (they haven’t won yet!) Tory government could try to shoot the Treaty down. Do the Tories really think it is acceptable that a [...]
The Greek social democracts have recorded a landslide victory and have received a clear mandate to implement their programme. Their triumph indicates that social democracts remain relevant and capable of forming large majorities supportive of their values.
I have just returned from the British Labour Party’s annual conference. It was a sobering affair. Gordon Brown and his ministers are trying to start a ‘fight back’ against the Conservatives who, at the start of the week, held a commanding lead in the opinion polls. This is a tough ask. Any party that has [...]
On Sunday’s election in Greece, the social democracts are favourites to win. Their bold programme of reform has hardly raised expectations, however – amidst rampant cynicism about politicians and anger towards the political class.
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