debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
With talk of a Greek exit from the Euro now being treated seriously it can be informative to consider past experiences with monetary union. The normal fate for currency unions has been eventual failure and dissolution, and the history books are full of examples of such failures. By and large having some pre-existing form of [...]
Britain has long been the awkward partner in Europe. In 1951, she refused to join the European Coal and Steel Community, predecessor of the European Community. Ernest Bevin, Foreign Secretary at the time, said of the Coal and Steel Community – ‘If you open that Pandora’s box, you never know what Trojan ‘orses will jump [...]
The Arab Spring is a historic moment of opportunity for the Middle East — as well as Europe — that must not be wasted. Who could have imagined even a year ago that the Arab Spring would blow a fresh wind across the Middle East, opening minds and hearts to new possibilities. Now in the [...]
Slowly, word is getting round – even in Germany – that the financial crisis could destroy the European unification project in its entirety, because it demonstrates, quite relentlessly, the weaknesses of the eurozone and its construction. Those weaknesses are less financial or economic than political. The Maastricht Treaty established a monetary union, but the political [...]
Like most countries in the region, Hungary hasn’t had it easy. Democracy wasn’t quite the fluffy experience the abstract western examples had seemingly shown. The economy was downright awful and for the first post transition decade, and along with the market economy came widespread existential angst, which had previously been the sad privilege only of dissidents. Even [...]
Perhaps for the first time in modern history, the future of the global economy lies in the hands of poor countries. The United States and Europe struggle on as wounded giants, casualties of their financial excesses and political paralysis. They seem condemned by their heavy debt burdens to years of stagnation or slow growth, widening [...]
To understand the present and future, sometimes it’s helpful to revisit the past. In the case of Europe, it is instructive to consider the young United States of America in 1789. The thirteen former colonies had expelled their British colonizer with the crucial help of the French, and began the delicate task of trying to [...]
After the recent Italian referendum and local elections, Berlusconi’s power seems to be very severely struck. Given the prime minister’s boundless economic and media power, this event shows (once again!) that the Italian electorate remain remarkably independent and reactive. Having said that, Italian democracy has been of bad quality for the last 20 years. One [...]
The explicitly conservative nature of mainstream (“neoclassical”) economics might give the impression that all economists line up on the political spectrum somewhere between the moderately and extremely reactionary. This is especially the case with the vast majority of the profession in North America and Europe supportive of fiscal austerity. While free market fundamentalism characterizes for [...]
After the killing of Osama Bin Laden, U.S. comedian Steven Colbert admitted to his audience that he was scared of not being scared anymore. The almost 10 year long war against terror has indeed transformed America. The U.S. has dedicated significant financial and human resources towards the ‘war against terror’ and although it is true [...]
Social democracy has arguably been more aware of historical change than any other political movement. Liberals tend to believe that historical change is something that cannot and should not be influenced, beyond the creation of a minimal state. Conservatives might be interested in history but the idea that mankind could consciously make its own history [...]
The eurozone has decided that the losses of private sector creditors should be socialised and the ultimate burden fall on the taxpayers of deficit countries. The latter will then suffer first a slump and then years of fiscal austerity. Martin Wolf, “The Eurozone after Strauss-Kahn”, Financial Times, 18/5/11 With pig-headed persistence, Germany is continuing [...]
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