debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Following the result of the first round of the French Presidential elections, it seems that – at last – a new wind is blowing in the European sky. The much sidestepped “growth agenda” is slowly gaining currency in the European political discourse and calls for pro-growth measures, for a European growth strategy and for a reconsideration of [...]
The bad news in Spain continues unabated. 15% of all jobs have now been destroyed since the start of the crisis. Meanwhile, the IMF has suggested a public bailout of the financial sector may be needed: To avoid resolution costs becoming too high for the industry to bear, especially in a reasonable time period, greater reliance [...]
Back from travel! (But more crazy travel next week) So, the euro crisis is risk on again. And this time it’s centered on Spain — which in a way is a good thing, because now the essential craziness of the orthodox German-inspired diagnosis of the crisis is on full display. For this is really, really [...]
Luis de Guindos, Spain’s new economy minister, went to Germany and committed to meeting the deficit targets laid out by the Eurogroup. Meeting the targets, claimed de Guindos (as have so many others), is key to regaining confidence. I’d like to point out two things in this post. First, don’t expect Spain to meet its deficit targets. [...]
In spite – or rather because – of a series of austerity packages and a constitutional “debt brake”, the exercise of squaring the circle is going to collapse in Spain. In the environment of a contracting economy (latest forecast -1.7 %), monthly new unemployment records (February: 23.6 %, youth unemployment 50.5 %) and a deepening [...]
Al Jazeera’s Inside Story programme has recently discussed the Spanish budget – one of the most austere in the country’s history – and its implications for the country and the Eurozone crisis as a whole. Social Europe Journal author David Lizoain participated in the debate.
Once upon a time, former PES President Poul Rasmussen called the Barroso team “Chicago boys”. Now, Green leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit talks of “neoliberal Taliban”. Understandably, the President of the European Commission is not amused. So, let’s look at the facts: According to the Commission’s reading, the deepest financial and economic crisis since the 1930s is [...]
The stupidest parlour game in Spain consists of predicting how long our crisis will last, as if the country were predisposed to tolerate an unemployment rate above 20% for another decade. We are not witnessing an ordinary stagnation, in the vein of Japan’s lost decade, but rather a prolonged emergency. The terrible crisis on Europe’s [...]
A widely held belief in political circles of the left is that a country, like Spain, cannot follow expansionist policies on its own. It is said over and over again that unless the entire EU or, at least, the Eurozone expands, one country cannot do it alone. This was indeed the position of the Zapatero [...]
Today’s unemployment numbers are not just depressing. They should make policymakers ashamed and everyone else extremely angry. 23.8 million men and women in the EU27, and 16.5 million in the euro area, were unemployed in December 2011. This is more than 20,000 more than in November, and the November figures have themselves been revised upwards [...]
Al Jazeera International produced a good roundup of the current problems of the Eurozone. I gave my two pennies worth at the end of the report: With the eurozone recession set to get worse, world leaders (…) will have to face a number of challenges. For two years the debt crisis has loomed over Europe. Greece, [...]
Further thoughts on the observation that the current British slump has now gone on longer than the slump of the 1930s. Is Britain unique? No, it isn’t. The NIESR has developed a monthly GDP series for Britain, which lets it use real-time data for the comparison. I can’t replicate that, but I can use the Maddison historical data and IMF data — including [...]
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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