Putting the brakes on the spread of indecent work
Legal victories for workers against platform corporations remain partial and limited in the absence of legislative and institutional change.
Cancelling a debt we already own has a false allure
The proposal to cancel ECB-held sovereign debt is not the best riposte to the looming renewal of austerity.
Fissures that tear us apart and pressures that weigh us all down
Kate Pickett contends in a new Social Europe column that inequalities go together—and so their opponents shouldn’t get drawn into rivalry.
Fewer Italians than Swedes hold anti-feminist views
New research from anti-extremism charities reveals ‘unexpected patterns’ of opinions towards feminism across Europe.
Germany must reduce its current-account surplus
Germany’s sustained current-account surplus is not only bad for others in Europe and beyond—it is bad for almost all Germans too.
The false scarcity of vaccine trade tensions
The row over the EU introducing vaccine export controls has occluded its rejection of a temporary waiver on intellectual property rights.
Europe’s ‘long-Covid’ economic frailty
Last year’s agreement on an EU recovery package was widely celebrated. This year its inadequacy will sink in.
Spain: more stable employment contracts
The Supreme Court has modified its jurisprudence on subcontracting, limiting the scope for abuse of temporary contracts.
Unsplendid isolation: Britain after ‘Brexit’
Paul Mason writes that a Biden US presidency allied to an EU pursuing ‘strategic autonomy’ leaves a ‘sovereign’ UK with a bit-part role.
Capital and ideology: interview with Thomas Piketty
Thomas Piketty tells Robin Wilson how wealth and power can be transferred from capital to workers and citizens.
Gig workers’ rights and their strategic litigation
A window of opportunity has opened up to utilise EU law on health and safety to advance the rights of ‘gig’ workers in domestic courts.
The infrastructural power of platform capitalism
We can’t go back to a world without labour platforms, so their proprietary digital infrastructure must be recreated as a public good.
New forms of employment in Europe—how new is new?
Standard employment is not simply being replaced by non-standard work. But work is becoming more diverse and policy must accordingly become more tailored.
The first global event in the history of humankind
While some talk of ‘deglobalisation’, Branko Milanovic argues that the pandemic will push forward the globalisation of labour.
The Biden victory and the future of the centre-left
Postwar global progress has hinged on a transatlantic alliance of progressive parties. The election in the United States potentially opens a new chapter.
Designing vaccines for people, not profits
For all the hope spurred by the efficacy announcements of multiple Covid-19 vaccine candidates, national and private interests are trumping health justice.
Light in the tunnel or oncoming train?
Adam Tooze argues that the frail eurozone recovery hinges entirely on its guarantee by the European Central Bank.
The rise of right-wing nationalism: from Poland to Polanyi
Karin Pettersson argues that far from history ‘ending’ in 1989 it has returned, with a vengeance, due to the very deregulation its trumpeters embraced.
Joe Biden should not miss the Bretton Woods moment
Peter Bofinger argues the incoming president must abjure the mercantilist language of his predecessor in favour of a progressive response to globalisation.
The ‘circular economy’—neither safe nor sustainable
The circular economy holds out the hope of living within the planet’s resources. Turning aspiration into action is another matter.
Seven ‘surprising’ facts about the Italian economy
Why would affluent northern-European taxpayers want to pour money into an Italian economy that is a basket-case? Except it isn’t.
