Why policymakers should watch the Swiss
If our politicians were looking for a radically different way of delivering good government, they could do much worse than watch the Swiss. [...]
EU
It’s the end of the EU as we knew it
It is indeed the end of the EU as we knew it. Britain out, Turkey in and Greece debt free: who would have thought what seismic shifts the refugee crisis could trigger in the EU’s power play? [...]
The EU is falling apart
It is breathtaking to watch how fast cornerstones of European integration are being undone as a result of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers entering the EU. [...]
Europe’s refugee crisis could undo the EU
The refugee crisis could prove to be the EU's make-or-break moment. [...]
Learning from Europe’s mistakes
Europe is suffering from some strange delusions that are less apparent when you live there. That is because certain beliefs and self-images are repeated until they can no longer be questioned without turning yourself into a political pariah. In my new essay, 'Why Europe Failed', I am dealing with some of them. [...]
The roots of Europe’s decline
In the breathlessness of the euro crisis, it is easy to miss the wood for the trees. By looking at individual trouble spots, we may be ignoring the roots of the crisis. [...]
Why Europe Failed
The continent that invented and dominated the modern world has gambled away its future. 'Why Europe Failed' is a sobering account of the Old World’s fall from grace. [...]
Europe on the road to nowhere
The rise of the European welfare state, the reduction of economic dynamism and the increasingly questionable legitimacy of the European project go hand in hand. 'Panem et circenses' could have been the motto of Europe’s post-World War II mixed economy model. It remains to be seen whether the EU will also share the Roman Empire’s fate. [...]
When monetary folly is not enough
After five tumultuous years of fighting the crisis arising from Europe’s monetary integration, leading European politicians are planning to go full steam ahead with the next level of integration. Their goal is the integration of fiscal policy. [...]
Now for the next euro crisis
Now that the Greek banks have re-opened, the third bailout package is on the way and something vaguely resembling normalcy is returning to Greece, we can finally deal with other things again: the euro crisis, for example. [...]