Tag archive for ‘financial crisis’
Has Angela Merkel outlived her usefulness?
Steven Hill’s recent paean to Angela Merkel on the SEJ website (18/08/10) may yet prove woefully ill-advised. For although he is correct in arguing that ‘social’ Germany is well ahead of the USA is many respects, his endorsement of Merkel’s economics is—to put it as politely as possible—somewhat overenthusiastic.
Economic Crisis Provides Opportunity for Greater ‘Europeanisation’ of Defence Spending
As governments outdo each other to cut their budgets, one area that ought to be ripe for pruning is defence. After all, the combined EU member states defence spending is 200 billion euros, the second largest in the world after the USA. Room then, one would think, for big savings. Naturally, defence is a very [...]
The State Is Alive But Not Yet Kicking
A new code of conduct is needed to balance spending excesses in deficit countries and export excesses in surplus countries. Governments, supervisory bodies and international institutions have a vital role to play to allow society at large to reap the potential benefits of a system of decentralised decision-makers. Only consistent and forceful interventions in financial [...]
Financial Re-Regulation and Democracy
It has taken almost two years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and more than three years since the beginning of the global recession brought on by the financial sector’s misdeeds for the United States and Europe finally to reform financial regulation. Perhaps we should celebrate the regulatory victories in both Europe and the United [...]
Isolationism on the Rise Among Disgruntled Electorates as Europe’s Rightward Shift Continues
The swing of Europe’s electorate to the right during the last couple of years was continued in last week’s British general election. Admittedly, unlike elsewhere, no far-right party was actually elected. This though was probably no more than a consequence of the UK’s unique electoral system. The mood of the electorate was undoubtedly towards the [...]
After the General Election – Labour’s Place in the new Political Landscape
I’m writing this, as the Social Europe order of things dictates, in that awful interregnum between Britain almost going to the polls (in 48 hours) and knowing the result. I’m not a commentator but an activist who wants Labour to win, but knows, like everyone else, that an outright win in terms of seats or [...]
Inside-out: Goldman Scandal shows who the real Insiders are
The financial world has been rocked – just as it appeared to be recovering its poise – by the news that the US financial market regulator, the SEC, has accused Goldman Sachs, the most masterful of Wall Street’s masters of the universe, of fraud. Investigations into Goldman are being launched in Britain, Germany and other [...]
What a Post-American World means for Europe
In recent months, Europe has learned some hard lessons about its transatlantic partner. President Barack Obama triggered great hope when he replaced George W. Bush at the American helm. But a year later, especially following Obama’s failure to produce anything of substance at Copenhagen, Europeans are realizing that Obama is going to have a difficult [...]
A New Social Democracy for Europe
Only through offering a new vision for these new times will social democrats be able to renew themselves and create a more just and prosperous Europe. The crisis of the SPD in Germany is matched by a crisis of European social democracy as a whole. Only a third of the member states of the European [...]
Good Capitalism… and what would need to change for that
The ongoing financial crisis points unmistakably to the glaring weaknesses of the present economic system. An event that seemed relatively manageable in economic terms – the real estate bubble in the United States – has brought the globalised economy to the brink of a new depression, reawakening memories of the world economic crisis of 1929. [...]
Can The State Still Be Saved?
After eleven years in government, the German Social Democratic Party are now having to cope with their greatest electoral defeat in the post-war period. On the day of the election there was a feeling almost of unbelief about what was happening, not just among party members but also among many supporters. How was it possible [...]
After the European Elections: Why we need a more European Social Democracy
Measured against the hopes of a positive shift in power in favour of social democracy in the wake of the financial and economic crisis, European social democracy, even if the real balance of power has barely changed, is the loser in the European elections in 2009. Leaving aside the general tendency at European elections for [...]
