debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Business lobbies and conservatives have become extremely good at hijacking progressive policy concepts and perverting them into something that suits their own agenda. European economic governance is a perfect example of this. In the nineties, trade unions and progressive politicians were staunch defenders of economic governance. At the time, the idea was that if all [...]
Three times in my life (so far), I have concluded that my understanding of the world was substantially wrong. The first time was after the passage in 1994 of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), when the flow of finance to Mexico to build factories to export to the largest consumer market in the [...]
Neoliberal restructuring and the economic crisis have led to increasing inequality, social polarisation and societal disintegration. That austerity politics fosters these developments is widely acknowledged. Its gender effects, however, are mostly neglected, though, in contrast to the public rhetoric of equal opportunities and gender mainstreaming, gender inequality is rising. This contribution, therefore, focuses on the impact of [...]
Bye bye Neo-liberalism, Guten Tag Ordo-Liberalismus. After his infatuation with Blair’s brand of Neo-liberalism in the first few months of his Presidency, then his flirt with Keynesianism and “dirigisme” at the height of the financial crisis and great recession, Nicolas Sarkozy seems to have succumbed to the charms of Ordo-liberalismus. It is a conclusion which [...]
The world financial crisis of 2008-2009, which did not turn into a ‘Great Depression’ only because central banks and governments worldwide prevented a complete ‘meltdown’ of the financial system and more severe repercussions in the real sectors, has left the public finances of many countries in dire straits. In the EU, the period of financial [...]
European monetary union has always been haunted by a spectre. That spectre is the irresponsible member country with an uncompetitive economy and a large budget deficit, building up too much debt and having to be bailed out. This bogeyman had a strong hold on the imagination of policymakers from the start, especially in Germany. Hence [...]
Pension spending has consistently been documented to pose a very significant risk to the long-term sustainability of public finances in Greece. On current trends, the projected spending on pensions in 2060 is expected to exceed 24% of GDP and the estimated deficit of the social security system is estimated at over 15% of GDP. In [...]
President Obama has chosen to fight fire with gasoline. Republicans want America to believe the economy is still lousy because government is too big, and the way to revive the economy is to cut federal spending. On Sunday Republican Speaker John Boehner even refused to rule out a government shut-down if Republicans don’t get the [...]
In the wake of the recent Irish debt crisis, the UK Coalition government decided not to take part in a new rescue fund for troubled eurozone members, suggested by France and Germany. This decision comes in spite of the UK’s pledge to support the EU-IMF rescue efforts for Ireland through a bilateral loan of more [...]
With a considerable delay, I am now sitting in the Berlin S-Bahn (city train) on my way to work, reading – quite astonished – an article about Wall Street investment bankers yet again receiving astronomical bonus payments, as if nothing bad ever happened. What went wrong? Have we learned nothing from the severe economic and [...]
How does a government get by with up to 35% cuts in public sector wages and mass school and hospital closure? Latvia’s troubles started with the onset of the financial crisis when, as a result of the problems faced by the Latvian-owned Parex Bank and its bailing out, the government was forced to turn to [...]
From the very beginning of the crisis, the Irish Government’s response has failed to protect vulnerable people and has damaged the long-term prospects of the economy. To put the scale of Ireland’s austerity measures into context, about €30 billion worth of austerity measures (cuts to public spending and tax increases) have occurred since the crisis [...]
SocialEurope Journal: SEJ Article: A Breakthrough Opportunity for Global Health http://t.co/VYXi6Wag SocialEurope Journal: SEJ Article: When Neo-Liberals drop their Mask http://t.co/saAJbUZH SocialEurope Journal: SEJ Article: At least nine EU countries in recession: stimulus urgently needed http://t.co/oNN0v98l SocialEurope Journal: SEJ Article: European Monetary Union: Doomed to fail or just another Stepping Stone? http://t.co/pMuqDvkA SocialEurope Journal: SEJ Article: Creating Jobs in recession-hit Communities in Europe: Why Microcredit will not help http://t.co/zJb4XxJl SocialEurope Journal: SEJ Article: German State Elections send Merkel an Economic Message http://t.co/yVG4Xr5n SocialEurope Journal: SEJ Article: Two dangerous Myths about a 'Grexit' http://t.co/vOhdnVIp SocialEurope Journal: SEJ Article: Finding a Way out of the Crisis – Growth and Employment in Europe http://t.co/Q8JhRRSg 
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