debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Since the 1970’s, economists have warned that a monetary union could not be sustained without a fiscal union. But the eurozone’s leaders have not heeded their advice – and the consequences are becoming increasingly apparent. Europe now faces a difficult choice: either fix this fundamental design flaw and move toward fiscal union, or abandon the [...]
A government that does not tax sufficiently to cover its spending will eventually run into all manner of debt-generated trouble. Its nominal interest rates will rise as bondholders fear inflation. Its business leaders will hunker down and try to move their wealth out of the companies they run for fear of high future corporate taxes. [...]
Of all the sins to which an American can succumb, the worst may be dependence on the state. Think back for a moment to the two biggest missteps in the 2012 presidential election: Mitt Romney’s dismissal of the “47 percent” of people “dependent on the government,” and President Obama’s “you didn’t build that,” intended to [...]
Nothing endangers globalization more than the yawning governance gap – the dangerous disparity between the national scope of political accountability and the global nature of markets for goods, capital, and many services – that has opened up in recent decades. When markets transcend national regulation, as with today’s globalization of finance, market failure, instability, and [...]
Angela Merkel’s European policy has so far not succeeded in solving the Eurozone crisis and has been widely criticised across Europe. The recent Italian election has again shown the level of discontent with Europe’s political direction. If you are part of the next German government what would you like to change in the German European policy approach? [...]
The overwhelming majority of Italian voters resoundingly rejected the politics and economics of austerity. This judgment by Italian voters is unlikely to meet with the approval of Troika of the eurozone. On the contrary, already we have calls for the new government to reject the popular will and continue those anti-social policies that Signore Monti [...]
In a recent post I had an imaginary interviewer asking “But surely no government can keep on borrowing more forever.” To which my suggested reply was “Of course not. But the right time to cut government borrowing is when the economy is strong, and the cost of borrowing is high.” This prompted a little discussion in comments about [...]
It is generally agreed that the crisis of 2008-2009 was caused by excessive bank lending, and that the failure to recover adequately from it stems from banks’ refusal to lend, owing to their “broken” balance sheets. A typical story, much favored by followers of Friedrich von Hayek and the Austrian School of economics, goes like [...]
What follows might seem unconventional for the topic of how to restore growth in an economy that is considered developed and is part of the eurozone. Greece is going through unprecedented times; the Greek people are experiencing the most debilitating crisis in the country’s modern history, a severe and sharp reduction in standards of living. [...]
The new Dutch coalition government combines austerity politics with a ‘fair redistribution of pain’ This week, the new Dutch Government was installed, in the presence of Queen Beatrix. The two-party cabinet will consist of the conservative-liberal VVD and centre-left Labour Party (PvdA) – the two winning parties of the September 12th national parliamentary elections. VVD-leader Mark [...]
Pre-distribution may be a new word but it is a route into exploring some far older ideas that lie at the heart of progressive debate. Jacob Hacker, the US academic credited with inventing the concept of pre-distribution, says it is “to focus on market reforms that encourage a more equal distribution of economic power and rewards [...]
The issue of youth employment and unemployment in the Czech Republic is a topic whose importance has increased particularly with crisis phenomena that began to be visible in late 2008 and especially during the years 2009-2010. In this period significantly increased unemployment also increased youth unemployment. For a basic illustration we can use this chart: [...]
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