Hix, Simon, (2016), “Is the EU really run by unelected bureaucrats?”, LSE Europpblog, June Much of the UK’s referendum debate has focused on the extent to which EU decision-making is democratic, with the European Commission a source of particular criticism from leave campaigners on the basis that it is unelected. Simon Hix writes that while there are legitimate problems with the EU’s system of democracy, there is little to justify the …Read More

Vivien Schmidt, (2016), “Missing Topic In #EUref: Neo-Liberalism Gone Too Far”, Social Europe, 22 June As the referendum campaign nears its end, one central issue is remarkable for its absence, despite the fact that it has been a major contributor to the anger that lends support to the Brexit camp:  neo-liberalism.  The revolt against the political parties, the rejection of the experts, the distrust of the elites more generally: all …Read More

Thomas Fricke, (2016), “A New Economic Paradigm To Fight Populism”, Social Europe, 21 June If the polls tell the truth, 86 percent of the Austrian blue-collar workers voted for the right-wing populist Norbert Hofer in the Austrian presidential elections in May. In the presidential elections in France Marine Le Pen would have reached the final round already back in 2012, had it been up to the blue-collar workers. In the …Read More

Merritt, Giles, (2016), “Europe’s Wake-Up Call”, Project Syndicate, 20 June There’s a silver lining to the dark clouds of populist Euroskepticism crowding in on the European Union. In Brussels and a number of Europe’s capitals, leaders know that the EU must respond to mounting discontent, and that – at long last – there is political capital to be gained in doing so. Relevant Posts Balfour, Rosa, Emmanouilidis, Janis A., Fieschi, Catherine, et al., (2016), “EUROPE’S TROUBLEMAKERS …Read More

Ellul, Andrew, Pagano, Marco, Schivardi, Fabiano, (2016), ” Employment and wage insurance within firms: Worldwide evidence “, Voxeu, 17 June Most countries feature some form of government-provided unemployment insurance, but there is an alternative provider of insurance for employees – the firm they work for. This column asks whether the provision of implicit insurance by family firms in particular to employees is a substitute for the provision of explicit insurance by governments. Family …Read More