Glendinning, S. (2014) “Europe’s goal should not be a United States of Europe, but a better united Europe of states“, LSE EUROPP, 20 Νοεμβρίου. Is a European ‘superstate’ desirable and, if so, could it ever be created? Simon Glendinning writes on philosophical approaches to this question, drawing on the work of philosophers such as Hegel, Kant, Marx and Derrida. Taking inspiration from Kant, he argues that rather than aiming …Read More
Blühdorn, I. (2014) “Erosion Or Exhaustion Of Democracy? The Challenge For Social Europe“, Social Europe Journal, 18 Νοεμβρίου. Social Europe is caught between a rock and a hard place. It is supposed to restore confidence in democracy – which since the bailout of the failing banks and the ensuing politics of austerity can hardly be regarded as a plausible promise anymore and which, anyway, at EU-level is known primarily …Read More
Goldstein, M. (2014) “The 2014 EU-wide bank stress test lacks credibility“, VoxEU Organisation, 18 Νοεμβρίου. Results from last month’s EU-wide stress test are reassuring, especially for countries at Europe’s core. This column warns against a rosy interpretation. The test relies on risk-weighted measures of bank capital ratios that have been shown to be less predictive of bank failure than unweighted leverage ratios – a metric already adopted by the …Read More
Wren-Lewis, S. (2014) “Getting The Germany Argument Right“, Social Europe Journal, 11 Νοεμβρίου. As the Eurozone experiences a prolonged demand-deficient recession, and given Germany’s pivotal role in making that happen, it is important to get the argument against current German policy right. It seems to me there are two wrong directions to take here. The first is to argue that Germany needs to undertake fiscal expansion because it has …Read More
Blome, N., Pauly, C., Peter Schmitz, G. & Schult, C. (2014) “Mr. Europe? The Ghosts of Juncker’s Past Come Back to Haunt Him“, Der Spiegel Online, 10 Νοεμβρίου. He only recently took office as European Commission president, but now, Jean-Claude Juncker is under pressure due to potentially illegal tax deals forged in Luxembourg during his stint as the country’s prime minister. Some believe he may have to resign. Jean-Claude …Read More
Kreutz, J. (2014) “Why the EU’s commitment to preventing human rights abuses abroad is more than just rhetoric“, LSE EUROPP, 10 Νοεμβρίου. Is EU foreign policy genuinely influenced by humanitarian concerns or are such claims merely used to add legitimacy to traditional power politics? Joakim Kreutz uses data on EU foreign policy actions between 1989 and 2008 to assess the extent to which human rights concerns have played a …Read More
Theodoropoulou, S. (2014) “Structural Reforms Will Not Mitigate The Risk Of Deflation In Europe“, Social Europe Journal, 10 Νοεμβρίου. In a speech delivered at the Central Bank of Latvia on October 17th, Benoit Coeuré, member of the executive board of the ECB and apparently one of the currently few close confidants of Mario Draghi, argued that speeding up the pace of structural reforms in the Eurozone could be key …Read More
Muellbauer, J. (2014) “Quantitative Easing for the People“, Project Syndicate, 05 Νοεμβρίου. It is now a near certainty that, by the end of this year, falling energy and commodity prices will push annual inflation in the Eurozone below zero – well under the European Central Bank’s target of near 2%. Rather than continue to allow misguided conventional thinking, centered on German economic ideology, to impede effective action, the ECB …Read More
The Editors (2014) “What’s Bad for Germany Could Be Good for Europe“, Bloomberg View, 04 Noεμβρίου. Even those familiar with Europe’s plight will find the latest economic forecasts grim reading. You thought the outlook for the euro area was bad already. It’s getting worse, says the European Commission. That said, Europe works in mysterious ways. In this deepening pessimism, there might just be grounds for optimism. The projections make …Read More
O’Neill, J. (2014) “A Crazy Idea About Italy“, Bloomberg View, 05 Νοεμβρίου. I’ve spent a good deal of my 35 years as an economic and financial analyst puzzling over Italy. Studying its economy was my first assignment in this business — as a matter of fact, Italy was the first foreign country I ever flew to. I’m just back from a vacation in Puglia and Basilicata. Over the decades, …Read More
