Smaghi, L.B., (2013), “Austerity and Stupidity”, VoxEU, 06 November. Today’s austerity, many argue, is stupid. This column argues that today’s EZ austerity may arise from stupidity before the crisis – specifically lacklustre structural reform. Excess debt arose in nations maintaining unsustainable living standards and welfare systems in the face of poor growth. The Crisis forced radical adjustments such as austerity in a recession. It’s not austerity which caused low growth, …Read More

Hacker, B., (2013), “Breakup Is Not A Solution to the Eurozone Crisis”, Social Europe Journal, 25 October. The unexpectedly high level of support for the new party “Alternative für Deutschland” (AFD) in the general elections in Germany puts their central program point back on the agenda of the political debate. Parties proposing a dissolving of the common currency might gain ground prior to the European Elections in 2014. But the …Read More

Schmidt, V. and Thatcher, M., (2003), “Why are Neo-liberal ideas so resilient?”, Policy Network , 24 October. Given the abject failure of the Neo-liberal policy offer, why has it persisted as the dominant approach to European policymaking and is there any way out? Despite the economic crisis that hit the US and Europe full force in 2008, political leaders have made little attempt to rethink the neo-liberal ideas that are …Read More

Vedrine, H., (2013), “Europe’s Flight from Futility”, Project Syndicate, 22 Οctober. In the next 25 years, Europe’s share of the world population and global GDP is expected to fall considerably. Does that mean that a weakened Europe will fall prey to the rising powers of 2040? Given that Europe’s prospects are highly dependent on external factors, any speculation about its future must account for global conditions. One thing seems certain: …Read More