debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Now the UK government has cut Universities’ Arts and Humanities funding by 80%, it’s crucial to remind ourselves why studying Arts subjects is vital to the health of the nation. Why not simply do away with them, and dragoon everyone into science and technology, the dividends of which are comparatively determinate and more obviously lucrative? [...]
Following the financial crisis of 2007, Eurozone countries have been separated into two large blocks dependent on their capacity to honor their domestic public finance constraints. The predominant view, and that of the EU institutions, is built upon a questionable causation, national fragility and profligacy. Hence, reestablishing credibility and the survival of the common currency [...]
The Labour Party was congratulating itself yesterday on having joined with Tory rebels to defeat the Tory-led government by voting to cut the EU budget. In truth, this was sheer opportunism. While the two Eds (Miliband and Balls) may believe that supporting belt-tightening in Europe is good populist politics, in truth, Labour has shot itself [...]
It’s an awkward question but one that must be raised repeatedly. Does Germany really want the euro to survive? Was the beloved DM sacrificed for unification? The German public—like their counterparts around the world—appear to be unduly influenced by their jingoistic press, one which tends to see Germans as the much-maligned victims of a Eurozone [...]
Clement Attlee’s Labour Party established the NHS in a country devastated by war. Leon Blum’s Popular Front government managed to institute the 40-hour week and paid holidays during the Great Depression. Felipe Gonzalez’s PSOE built Spain’s social safety net during times of scarcity. Difficult economic circumstances are not a valid excuse for programmatic timidity on [...]
When the economic crisis broke following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and the global banking system seized up, workers began to be laid off, families saw their houses repossessed and banks teetered on the brink of collapse. Financial panic knew no frontiers. It was clear that a coordinated global response by governments [...]
The economic crisis has meant harsh austerity in a number of EU states. But even those that retain relatively sound macroeconomic fundamentals have engaged in belt-tightening wary of market reactions and rising spreads. The political economy of the EU is displaying worrying signs of decay, as Europe’s socio-economic model is undermined through strategies of fiscal [...]
The debate on Europe‘s future has become lop-sided. The fascinating idea of European integration, of finding a peaceful and cooperative order on a continent torn apart by wars and conflicts has deteriorated. We are left with a narrow-minded discussion on sovereign debt and its impact on interest rates and monetary stability. Developing a stable democratic [...]
While European countries argue about bank recapitalisation and the US authorities worry that we may fail to avert a meltdown, a key principle should be borne in mind. Recapitalising the banks is not enough. What needed to escape recession is a great surge of consumer demand. Just as a rocket needs a lot of fuel [...]
As a child, I once got lost in a maze. I could see where I had to get to, but try as I might, I could not get there. Indeed, the harder I tried, the more lost I became. The current situation in the EU feels a lot like that experience. The harder we try [...]
One of the calumnies of liberal/conservative commentators and politicians, and some mainstream economists, when the financial crisis broke in 2007/2008 was that it was all the fault of – you guessed it – government. Central banks had kept interest rates too low and blown up asset bubbles. Public institutions like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, [...]
Could the financial crisis of 2007-2008 happen again? Since the crisis erupted, there has been no shortage of opportunities – in the form of inadequate conclusions and decisions by officials – to nurture one’s anxiety about that prospect. Over the course of the three G-20 summits held since the crisis, world leaders have agreed to [...]
All Content