debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
The economic and social consequences of lopsided policies focussed on lowering expenditure are fatal. Europe is threatening to fall apart as a result. Instead of the European crisis easing, it has worsened over the past two years and the credit risks which Germany is shouldering have not shrunk, but have grown significantly. The crisis from which [...]
The recent elections in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) have produced a great result for the German Social Democratic party (SPD) and a crushing defeat for Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU). After a dozen years, and with a vote share of 39.1%, the SPD has re-emerged as the strongest party in Germany’s most populous state. The CDU, on the other hand, [...]
European Industry in the Global Competition Europe risks falling behind The financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, macroeconomic imbalances, and intra-European tensions are leaving their mark. Europe is in danger of falling behind in the global competition. International rivals in Southeast Asia and North America are revealing Europe’s weaknesses. While countries around the world are [...]
The basic demands of the French Revolution – Liberty, Egality and Fraternity – are also the basic values of German Social Democracy: Freedom, Justice and Solidarity. “Freedom” here is not used in the narrower liberal sense of formal freedom under the law or the free-for-all of economic markets, but rather means the concrete legal, social, [...]
Solidarity, freedom and justice – these are the fundamental values of social democracy. And it is on these root ideas that social democratic politics regarding migration, integration and identity are based upon. They offer a clear guideline for the handling of cultural diversity within a society and make appreciation as well as participation the main [...]
With Europe bogged down by the financial crisis and its national governments failing or being voted out of office across the continent, Germany has looked like an island of prosperity and stability. Chancellor Angela Merkel has appeared to be the embodiment of the new strength of old Europe’s problem child, a country admired by some [...]
In late 2008, when the OECD countries had only just been hit by the credit crunch and Keynesians were arguing for a large stimulus package to offset private deleveraging, the German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück launched an unprecedented attack on Gordon Brown, accusing him of ‘crass Keynesianism’ and claiming that economic stimulus would merely ‘raise [...]
Dr Michael Dauderstaedt, Director of the Economic and Social Policy Department of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, discusses the Eurozone crisis and its impact on social democracy in Germany. This talk was recorded at the event ‘Social Democracy and Europe’s Crisis’, Birkbeck, University of London on 16th February 2012.
Europe is debilitated with the effects of two years of desperate crisis management. The prescribed treatment resembles the old practice of bloodletting on ailing patients. Growing debts are paid with more loans, and new loans are made dependent on increasingly severe austerity measures. The results are a greater risk of recession, higher interest rates on [...]
The late Steve Jobs was certainly not an easy person to deal with and as Apple CEO a very demanding manager. But nobody can deny that his vision and instincts for clever designs and what people wanted fundamentally transformed several industries, from personal computers to the music business. As Walter Isaacson described in his biography, [...]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel should be happy nowadays: her party’s approval ratings aren’t bad, and her own are very good. She no longer has serious rivals within the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), while the left opposition is fragmented into four parties. Her response to the European crisis has prevailed – or at least that [...]
You might have heard that at the SPD party conference last December former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt gave a landmark speech on Germany and the continuing need for European unification. The speech was widely described as an important part of the political heritage of the now 93 year-old ex-Chancellor. If you speak German here a video of the [...]
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