debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
This is a post about morality rather than economics, and as a result I am rather unsure about whether I should be writing it at all. Yet it is something that I have kept thinking about over the last few days, even though I would rather put it out of my mind. So perhaps this [...]
The problem of capitalism is not its wealth-creating capacity, but its inability to share it. A global economic system that produces incredible wealth, but cannot ensure “zero hunger” on this planet is deeply flawed. Markets lacking the visible helping hand of democratic and accountable governments are producing socially undesirable, and most likely unsustainable, outcomes. The [...]
In the first of two interviews with EUROPP editors Stuart A Brown and Chris Gilson, Noam Chomsky discusses technocratic governance in Europe, why the eurozone’s austerity policies are failing to solve the crisis, and the rise of the far-right in countries such as Greece and France. What do you think the use of technocratic governments [...]
The eurozone crisis has badly affected the Spanish economy, leading to rising unemployment and large cuts in public spending. Vicente Navarro writes that the crisis has now progressed into a frontal attack against the Spanish welfare state: already the smallest (in terms of spending as a percentage of GDP) among the EU-15 countries. The underfunded and under-resourced [...]
One way to think about the future of the state is to analyze the situation for some of the largest states that exist, namely the state in the Nordic countries.[1] In the discussion about the future of the state, there are many misunderstandings of these states, even by sympathetic commentators. The most common one is [...]
With a new party leader in place, the Swedish social democratic party (SAP) is once again trying to find its role in the Swedish political landscape – a landscape that has been transformed greatly over the past six years of conservative government, and arguably even more over the past three decades, of which a majority [...]
“In the Black Labour“, Policy Network’s recent discussion paper, has a fine initial premise: the centre-left must have a credible approach to the sustainability of public finances. In order to have the room to manoeuvre during downturns, you should also engage in countercyclical fiscal policy during years of plenty. Its authors argue that structural deficits should [...]
The British press is obsessed with Cameron’s veto and its effect on Europe. But that is largely irrelevant to the big story: in truth, the euro is commiting suicide. If the German debt-brake law is adopted by all 17, it will be impossible for any country to engage in serious counter-cyclical fiscal policy (and existing [...]
In recent decades, the Swedish welfare has seen a major regime shift. From having comprehensive public welfare monopolies, Sweden has seen an extensive process to allow private for-profit actors into the welfare sector. Today, nearly one in five who work in the welfare sector are employed by the private sector. The welfare services have generally [...]
An opinion poll that Norfakta conducted on behalf of the newspapers Nationen and Klassekampen shows that Norwegian women largely prefer the centre-left before the rightwing. While 51 percent of the men would vote for the Conservatives or the Progress Party, only 36 percent of women would do the same. Election researcher Hanne Marthe Narud at [...]
From the liturgy of disturbing reading in the past days, I’ve picked out two pieces — and, no, I don’t include David Cameron’s predictable characterisation of underclass youth as mindless looters while, in the heart of London, super-rich casino bankers and tax dodgers continue to rob us of vastly greater sums. The bad news I’m [...]
Conventional wisdom in money centers characterizes the welfare state as wasteful and inefficient, penalizing good hard-working people in order to subsidize those that would rather live on state largesse than work for a living. Most recently, rising levels of government debt have given the bond markets and the rating agencies reason to attack a number [...]
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