Articles

The World Economic Forum has recognised intellectually that Scandinavian social models offer an alternative to rising inequality. It just can’t accept this ideologically.   Gerhard Bosch   The World Economic Forum (WEF), which met last week in Davos, has raised its moral bar ever higher in recent years. The new Davos …

Yukon Huang   The World Bank’s proposal in early December to continue lending to China triggered concern within Washington’s political circles that such activities should cease. Last year, as the U.S Treasury undersecretary, David Malpass also questioned why the World Bank was still lending to China, though his views have …

Continuing our series on ‘just transition’, Natalie Bennett argues that the media have an ethical responsibility to foster public understanding. Natalie Bennett   Discussion of ‘fake news’ often centres on ‘social media’, on Russian interference and Twitter bots, on nefarious undercover sources. This ignores the ‘fake news’ hiding in open …

Adam Tooze stresses that the critical COP26 conference later this year hinges on European unity and radical leadership.  Adam Tooze   There are turning points in history. Moments that matter, that mark beginnings and ends. As Martin Luther King reminded us, ‘There is such a thing as being too late.’ It …

President Putin’s unexpected proposals this week to change the Russian constitution prompted the instant resignation of the Russian government. What’s he trying to achieve, and will he succeed? Dimitri Trenin, Alexander Baunov, Andrei Kolesnikov, Tatiana Stanovaya   Vladimir Putin appears to have set in motion the process of handing over …

Paul Mason   Since 2016, there’s been a question in the back of my mind: which is the last European city I will ever visit as an EU citizen? Now, I know the answer: I’ve just come back from Bonn, the city of Beethoven, Deutsche Post and large parts of the German …

Economic inequality has burgeoned as income from capital has risen faster than growth. Time to change the owners of capital. Bo Rothstein  The economic system we used to call liberal market capitalism has changed dramatically. Since the early 1980s, this socio-economic model has engendered a huge increase in economic inequality. …

Amid the intractable struggle in Israel/Palestine for the moral high ground of legitimate victimhood, Europe has a historic responsibility. Stephen Pogány  As I learnt at first hand during a recent visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, there is a widespread conviction among Palestinians that their misfortunes are attributable …

Would 2020 be a year of Conflict or Compromise? Mehrdad Khonsari The plight of ordinary Iranians and Iran’s worsening economic woes for 2020 will undoubtedly become hugely compounded, as the political dust settles; following of the unexpected killing of Qassem Soleimani by the American military in Iraq. The Commander of …

Bruno Crepon  The 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded, last month, to three of the world’s leading economists; “for their experimental approach to alleviating poverty.” This experimental approach is gaining popularity in the MENA region, and holds the potential to impact the lives of millions of people. In 2018, …