Kelemen, R. D. & Menon, A. (2014) “Ο πολιτικός πόλεμος στην Ε.Ε. Όταν τελειώσει η προεκλογική περίοδος στην Ε.Ε. θα ξεκινήσουν οι πραγματικές πολιτικές μάχες“, Foreign Affairs: the Hellenic Edition, 19 Μαΐου.   Σιγοβράζει μια σημαντική μάχη που θα βάλει το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο εναντίον τής Γερμανίδας καγκελαρίου Άνγκελα Μέρκελ και των συνεργατών της στις εθνικές πρωτεύουσες της Ευρώπης. Ο νικητής αυτής της μάχης θα κερδίσει το δικαίωμα να διαμορφώσει το …Read More

James, H. (2014) “The Reconstruction of European Politics“, Project Syndicate, 15 Μαΐου.   PRINCETON – Many Europeans tremble at the likely outcome of the upcoming European Parliament election: a strong showing for anti-European protest parties, which will almost certainly try to present themselves as the real winners. But hand-wringing will not resolve the European Union’s political crisis. And the crisis runs deep. Nowadays, anti-EU parties – Marine Le Pen’s National …Read More

Buruma, I. (2014) “The Trouble with Europe“, Project Syndicate, 15 Μαΐου.   NEW YORK – According to the latest opinion polls, the big winners in the European Parliament election later this month will be right-wing populist parties that share a common loathing of the European Union, most notably the National Front in France, the Freedom Party in the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom’s Independence Party. Though the Euroskeptic right may …Read More

Eichengreen, B. (2014) “Europe’s Crisis Treadmill“, Project Syndicate, 12 Μαΐου.   BERKELEY – This month marks the fourth anniversary of the May 2010 financial rescue of Greece. Previously, the idea that a eurozone member would seek emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund, along with the European Commission and the European Central Bank, was unthinkable. The rescue thus marked Europe’s descent into full-blown crisis. Four years later, European officials are …Read More

Kowalsky, W. (2014) “Social Europe – In Europe Or In The Member States?”, Social Europe Journal, 12 Μαΐου.   A solution to save Social Europe by going back to the Member States is the key message of a recent contribution by Paul de Beer. Reading the “Roadmap to a Social Europe”, which shows a maze on its cover, he gets the impression that not so much is clear in the …Read More

Onaran, O. & Stockhammer, E. (2014) “Raising wages should be a key component of economic growth strategies across the world“, LSE EUROPP, 07 Μαΐου.     What impact do wages have on economic growth? Ozlem Onaran and Engelbert Stockhammer write that the size of wages as a percentage of state GDP has been falling across the world. They argue that this poses a problem because the negative impact on aggregate …Read More

Wren-Lewis, S. (2014) “Central bank advice on austerity“, Mainly Macro Blog, 05 Μαΐου.   As I wrote recently, the economic debate on the impact on austerity is over bar the details. Fiscal contraction when interest rates are at their zero lower bound is likely to have a significant negative impact on output. Of course the popular debate goes on, because of absurd claims that recovering from austerity somehow validates it. …Read More

Gordon, N. J. & Ringe, G. (2014) “How to save bank resolution in the European banking union“, VoxEU Organisation, 30 Απριλίου.   The European Parliament recently adopted the Single Resolution Mechanism. Though supposed to be a pillar of the European banking union, it is fraught with difficulties. This column makes a proposal for a new organisational structure that can deal with bank failure more effectively. European banks should be required …Read More

McDonnell, D. (2014) “The rise of Euroscepticism across Europe has masked general apathy about the European elections among voters“, LSE EUROPP, 29 Απριλίου.   Marine Le Pen’s Front National and Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom have announced that they intend to form a ‘Eurosceptic alliance’ in the European Parliament after the 2014 European elections. Duncan McDonnell writes that while the overall picture in the European elections will see Eurosceptic parties …Read More