Why Are We So Angry? - The Atlantic - Charles Duhigg

Anger is one of the densest forms of communication. It conveys more information, more quickly, than almost any other type of emotion.

globalinequality: Why inequality matters?

globalinequality: Why inequality matters?: This is the question that I am often asked and will be asked in two days. So I decided to write my answers down. The argument why in...





Also Inequality Is Bad for Growth of the Poor (But Not for That of the Rich) Roy van der Weide Branko Milanovic

A New Social Contract| Nemat Shafik, LSE Director

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/12/lse-a-new-social-contract-shafik.htm

We are living in an age of insecurity. Increasingly, the values of liberal democracy, liberal economies, and a rules-based international system are being repudiated—even though they have delivered progress for the vast majority of people. Discontent has been fed by fears over slowing economic progress, especially in advanced economies, flatlining productivity and social mobility, and concerns about the future brought on by shifts in demography and technology.

Global Report 2017: Conflict, Governance and State Fragility | Center for Systemic Peace,

http://www.systemicpeace.org/vlibrary/GlobalReport2017.pdf

"Common-Knowledge Attacks on Democracy" | Henry Farrell & Bruce Schneier

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3273111

via http://crookedtimber.org/

The New Populism | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/the-new-populism

Believing without evidence is always morally wrong | Francisco Mejia Uribe at Aeon.co

In ‘The Ethics of Belief’ (1877), Clifford gives three arguments as to why we have a moral obligation to believe responsibly, that is, to believe only what we have sufficient evidence for, and what we have diligently investigated. His first argument starts with the simple observation that our beliefs influence our actions. Everyo ...

here is Clifford's The Ethics Of Belief

Impact of Italy’s Draft Budget on Growth and Fiscal Solvency | Blanchard, Leandro and Zettelmeyer

"In this Policy Brief, the authors look at the merits of fiscal expansion, concluding that Italy’s budget is unlikely to stimulate growth and may well depress it. But ..."
PIIE

Όψεις Κοινωνικής Κινητικότητας στην Ελλάδα της Κρίσης | Ματσαγγάνης, Πάρμα, Καρακίτσιος

διαΝΕΟσις

Populism's Common Denominator | Barry Eichengreen at Project-Syndicate

What unites supporters of authoritarian, upstart politicians like US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro is revulsion against the corruption of the political process. But voters will learn the hard way that strongman rule exacerbates rather than mitigates corruption.

The Commission's Autumn 2018 Forecast | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

The Commission's Autumn 2018 Forecast | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

Independent report on the Greek official debt | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

Independent report on the Greek official debt | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

EU Coalition Explorer 2018 | ECFR

https://www.ecfr.eu/page/ECFR269_EU_COALITION_EXPLORER_2018_V1.0.pdf

globalisation and democracy | Charlemagne, The Economist

a European trilemma

In a globalised world, theorises the Harvard professor, a country can have economic integration, the nation-state or democratic politics, but not all three fully. It can choose integration and the nation-state but give up democratic control to technocratic, supranational institutions  (D.Rodrik)

Fixing the euro needs to go beyond economics | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

Fixing the euro needs to go beyond economics | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

Reforming the political governance of the EU, rather than just its economic governance

The euro crisis is one of a series of crises seriously threatening the European project and feeding the rise of nationalist euro-sceptic political parties. Similarly, the management of the migration flows since 2015 has been plagued by serious coordination failures as Europe is deeply divided ...

How to reconcile risk sharing and market discipline in the euro area | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

How to reconcile risk sharing and market discipline in the euro area | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

The euro area continues to suffer from critical weaknesses that are the result of a poorly designed fiscal and financial architecture, but its members are divided on how to address the problems. This column proposes six reforms which, if delivered as a package, would improve the euro area’s financial stability, political cohesion, and potential for delivering prosperity to its citizens, all while addressing the priorities and concerns of participating countries.

ΕΦΚΑ- Ν4051 & Ν4093

Η διεκδίκηση των αναδρομικών από συνταξιούχους και δημόσιους υπαλλήλους θα είναι ο επόμενος μεγάλος πονοκέφαλος κάθε κυβέρνησης.

Central Europe in the Next Seven Years | Res Publica Foundation and the German Marshall Fund

https://cefutures.visegradinsight.eu/next-7-years/

via Poland’s risky ‘America first’ policy POLITICO

A manifesto for renewing liberalism | The Economist

LIBERALISM made the modern world, but the modern world is turning against it. Europe and America are in the throes of a popular rebellion against liberal elites, who are seen as self-serving and unable, or unwilling, to solve the problems of ordinary people.

"The IMF abetted the European Union’s subversion of Greek democracy" | Ashoka Mody

"Nine years have passed since Greece’s crisis began in October 2009. Since then, Greek GDP fell by 25 percent and is stuck at that level. More than a third of Greeks live below the poverty line; young ..."

Don’t cheer Greece’s bailout exit just yet | Reuters Commentary

it’s important to remember that Athens remains in thrall to its European creditors, who have failed to put the Greek economy on a sustainable footing.

"Muted cheers as Greece exits its eight-year rescue" | the FT View

It is an achievement that Greece has been turned from an acute problem back into a chronic one,

Ο Γρίφος των 100 Χρόνων - Ζωή, Eργασία και Εκπαίδευση στην Εποχή της Μακροβιότητας | ΔΙΑΝΕΟΣΙΣ

Για ποιον μιλά ο Γρίφος; Πλάτων Τήνιος

https://www.dianeosis.org/product/o-grifos-twn-100-xronwn/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Year-Life-Living-Working-Longevity/dp/1472947320/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534760365&sr=8-1&keywords=The+100-Year+Life%3A+Living+and+Working+in+an+Age+of+Longevity

"Η μετα-αμερικανική παγκόσμια οικονομία" | Adam Posen στο Foreign Affairs

http://www.foreignaffairs.gr/articles/71919/adam-s-posen/i-meta-amerikaniki-pagkosmia-oikonomia

Περίληψη: 

 

Σήμερα, ένα μικρότερο ποσοστό του παγκόσμιου πληθυσμού παρά ποτέ ζει σε συνθήκες φτώχειας και ένα μεγαλύτερο μερίδιο παρά ποτέ ζει την ύπαρξη της μεσαίας τάξης. Η οικονομική ανάπτυξη έχει φέρει εκατοντάδες εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους έξω από αυτά που ισοδυναμούσαν με την απλή επιβίωση ή λίγο καλύτερα. Η φιλελεύθερη τάξη που κατασκεύασαν και καθοδήγησαν οι Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες έκαναν την πρόοδο αυτή δυνατή, δίνοντας σε χώρες, επιχειρήσεις και ιδιώτες την ευκαιρία να οικοδομήσουν την οικονομική τους ζωή χωρίς φόβο ότι μια ξένη δύναμη θα τους πάρει ό, τι είχαν κάνει.

Identity-Ideology- Politics | Ezra Klein with Lilliana Mason (podcast)

https://www.vox.com/2018/5/2/17304836/ezra-klein-show-book-recommendations-lilliana-mason-identity-politics

DIW on Greek Private Sector after the crisis

https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.594742.de/dwr-18-29-1.pdf

THE SECURITY FEARS THAT KEEP EUROPEANS AWAKE AT NIGHT | ECFR

Introduction The security of the European Union is being challenged like never before. Central tenets of the international system that Europeans helped build are eroding or even disintegrating one by one. Great power competition is increasingly shaping Europeans’ security environment, while other security threats are also on the rise, from terrorism and cyber attacks to climate change. The EU now faces security threats from its east and south – and an uncertain ally in the West.

"Ethno‐nationalist populism and the mobilization of collective resentment" | Bart Bonikowski

Abstract. "Scholarly and journalistic accounts of the recent successes of radical‐right politics in Europe and the United States, including the Brexit referendum and the Trump campaign, tend to conflate three phenomena: populism, ethno‐nationalism and authoritarianism. While all three are important elements of the radical right, they are neither coterminous nor limited to the right. The resulting lack of analytical clarity has hindered accounts of the causes and consequences of ethno‐nationalist populism. ...

"3 Versions of Europe Are Collapsing at the Same Time" | Ivan Krastev at FP

Is Europe failing? There is plenty of evidence to suggest so, from the constant bickering over NATO contributions, to the proliferation of half-baked deals to regulate migration, to the growing signs of authoritarianism in Eastern Europe.

Ιωάννης Κωτούλας: "Γιατί η Ελλάδα δεν πρέπει να υποχωρήσει στο Μακεδονικό"

ForeignAffairs (Ελληνική Έκδοση) 29/6/2018
https://www.foreignaffairs.gr/articles/71848/ioannis-kotoylas/giati-i-ellada-den-prepei-na-ypoxorisei-sto-makedoniko

Περίληψη: 

 

Σε περίπτωση αναγνώρισης μακεδονικής εθνοτικής ταυτότητας κατά άμεσο ή έμμεσο τρόπο από την ελληνική πλευρά, οι σλαβόφωνοι της ΠΓΔΜ θα αποτελούν την κύρια, διεθνώς αναγνωρισμένη μακεδονική εθνότητα και οι Μακεδόνες στην Βόρειο Ελλάδα θα συνιστούν την υποδιαίρεση. Πλέον οι Έλληνες θα είναι οι καπηλευτές μιας εθνικής ονομασίας ενός γειτονικού κράτους, σε μια πλήρη αντιστροφή όχι μόνο των πολιτικών, αλλά και των ιστορικών δεδομένων.*

Tsipras the Saviour!!!! FT Newsletter/ 29 June

Greece is here to help  That's the message from Alexis Tsipras in a wide-ranging interview with the FT's Jim Brunsden. Once a leftist firebrand who brought his country to the brink of a eurozone exit, Tsipras has turned into the EU's model pupil. And he seems to be enjoying every minute of it:

“I think the most important achievement is that Greece was for more than five years a part of the problem in Europe, now it’s part of the solution"

ss.  That is British humour: a little mischievous! 

Putting the Greek debt problem to rest | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

Putting the Greek debt problem to rest | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal

Barry Eichengreen, Emilios Avgouleas, Miguel Poiares Maduro, Ugo Panizza, Richard Portes, Beatrice Weder di Mauro, Charles Wyplosz, Jeromin Zettelmeyer



https://cepr.org/sites/default/files/policy_insights/PolicyInsight92.pdf

Ολόκληρη η συμφωνία (pdf) με Β.Μακεδονία!

http://metarithmisi.liberal.gr/post/ειδησεισ/διεργασίες-στα-κόμματα-για-το-μακεδον/

How nations come together | Andreas Wimmer at Aeon

Why do some countries fall apart, often along their ethnic fault lines, while others have held together over decades and centuries, despite governing a diverse population as well? Why is it, in other words, that nation-building succeeded in some places while it failed in others?

Bretton Woods, Brussels, and Beyond: Redesigning the Institutions of Europe | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal

Bretton Woods, Brussels, and Beyond: Redesigning the Institutions of Europe | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal

Economists have discussed extensively what to do to reform the European Project and how, but have been broadly silent on who and when. Which institutions and rules are needed, and when? This eBook shows that such institutional questions, although seldomly raised, are of fundamental importance for the future of European integration.

The Moral Narratives of Economists | Anthony Randazzo and Jonathan Haidt

Moral narratives have a substantive effect on the research conclusions of economists. This is one of the findings from a recent survey of economists that we conducted, which found a relationship between views on empirical economic propositions and moral judgments. ...

"How we entered the age of the strongman" | John Gray, the New Statesman

"Liberals have consistently misread the present – and their complacency is pushing us into a new authoritarian era."... eh?

Το "Ολιστικό Πρόγραμμα" του Ευκλείδη

Μια στρατηγική ανάπτυξης για το µέλλον

William Davies: A Bibliographic Review of Neoliberalism

William Davies: A Bibliographic Review of Neoliberalism: TCS is an academic publishing cluster now based at Goldsmiths, University of London. It comprises the academic, peer-reviewed journals Theory, Culture & Society and Body & Society, as well as the Theory, Culture & Society Book Series.

Euro area reform: No deal is better than a bad deal | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal

Euro area reform: No deal is better than a bad deal | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal

"You don’t have a right to believe whatever you want to" | aeon.co

Do we have the right to believe whatever we want to believe? This supposed right is often claimed as the last resort of the wilfully ignorant...

"Is Liberal Democracy in Retreat?" |Steven Pinker , Robert Muggah

https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/is-liberal-democracy-in-retreat-by-steven-pinker-and-robert-muggah-2018-03?a_la=english&a_d=5abd05bc78b6c71254dc917b&a_m=&a_a=click&a_s=&a_p=homepage&a_li=is-liberal-democracy-in-retreat-by-steven-pinker-and-robert-muggah-2018-03&a_pa=curated&a_ps=secondary-articles

Though some countries (and cities) are faring worse than others, the world is becoming safer and more prosperous overall – hard as that may be to believe. This is especially true of democratic countries, which stand out for their higher rates of economic growth and higher levels of wellbeing. Democracies also tend to have fewer wars and genocides, virtually no famines, and happier, healthier, better-educated citizens.

"Distrust and Political Turnover" | NBER Working Paper No. 24187 January 2018

Nathan Nunn, Nancy Qian, and Jaya Wen
http://www.nber.org/papers/w24187.pdf

We present findings that document one way in which a society's culture can affect political outcomes....

"Escape the echo chamber" | aeon.co

Something has gone wrong with the flow of information. It’s not just that different people are drawing subtly different conclusions from the same evidence. It seems like different intellectual communities no longer share basic foundational beliefs. Maybe nobody cares about the truth anymore,

Leonid Bershidsky | "Why Orthodox Christian Nations Remain Stuck"

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-04-26/why-orthodox-christian-nations-remain-stuck

Twenty years ago, I would have been inclined to discard this idea simply because it didn’t ring true intuitively. It even sounded rather humiliating as most people scrambled to adapt to the new economic reality, often in highly entrepreneurial if somewhat lawless ways, and as respect for all authority vanished. It was difficult to match the emerging cut-throat capitalism to the Orthodox tradition, even if the robber barons made a point of paying for new gilt veneers on the onion domes of Orthodox churches.

Now, however, I find it difficult to disagree with the analysis of Djankov and Nikolova, at least when it comes to Russia.  

Communism as the Unhappy Coming Authors Simeon Djankov Elena Nikolova (World Bank , pdf) 

Τα τουρκικά παιχνίδια με το Δίκαιο της Θάλασσας | Foreign Affairs - Hellenic Edition

Τα τουρκικά παιχνίδια με το Δίκαιο της Θάλασσας | Foreign Affairs - Hellenic Edition

Περίληψη: 

 

Οι προσδοκίες της Ελλάδας από την ΕΕ, αλλά και το ΝΑΤΟ, δεν θα πρέπει να ξεπερνούν την πραγματικότητα, καλύπτοντας ανασφάλειες που η Ελλάδα θα πρέπει να καλύψει μόνη της αναλαμβάνοντας αυτόνομα την ευθύνη της εξωτερικής της πολιτικής. Η Ελλάδα θα πρέπει να πιστέψει στον εαυτό της και να διεκδικήσει αυτά που δικαιούται, τα οποία κανένας δεν θα της παραχωρήσει με δική του πρωτοβουλία.

O ΠΕΤΡΟΣ ΣΙΟΥΣΙΟΥΡΑΣ είναι καθηγητής στο Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου και διδάσκει Γεωπολιτική, Θαλάσσιες Μεταφορές και Δίκαιο της Θάλασσας.

EUROPP – Greece’s clean exit: Politics vs economics

EUROPP – Greece’s clean exit: Politics vs economics



Lorenzo Codogno. Visiting Professor in Practice at the LSE’s European Institute 

There seems to be a strong convergence of interests between the Greek government, the European Commission and Eurozone Member States (and the IMF): they all want a clean exit from the Third Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece.

Breaching the social contract: why the success of Golden Dawn in Greece points to a crisis of democratic representation : Democratic Audit UK

Breaching the social contract: why the success of Golden Dawn in Greece points to a crisis of democratic representation : Democratic Audit UK

Understanding American politics in the Trump era: 9 of psychology’s best lessons - Vox

 Understanding American politics in the Trump era: 9 of psychology’s best lessons - Vox



ss. not only American politics.

The discreet charm of hypocrisy: An EU-Turkey Power Audit | European Council on Foreign Relations

The discreet charm of hypocrisy:  An EU-Turkey Power Audit | European Council on Foreign Relations

Was the Arab Spring a black-swan event? BROOKINGS

Was the Arab Spring a black-swan event?

CEPR | "Independent report on the Greek official debt" March '18

PolicyInsight92.pdf

A spectre continues to haunt Greece and no
less its creditors. Under plausible projections for
growth, interest rates and fiscal performance, the
government’s debt is unsustainable, as its official
creditors have effectively acknowledged.. 

Yiannis Kokkinakis | " ... the political economy of reforms in Europe" (pdf)

Kokkinakis83.pdf



from the Adstract: " ...  I shall also focus on a less self-evident parameter
of recent developments: the prevalence of technocratic solutions, and the retreat of
political processes and elective bodies in the formulation and implementation of
economic policy in Europe"

Gangster’s paradise: how organised crime took over Russia | News | The Guardian

Gangster’s paradise: how organised crime took over Russia | News | The Guardian

Italy Is the West’s Future – Foreign Policy

 Italy Is the West’s Future – Foreign Policy

On one level, you might argue that the Italian election was classic Italian politics: a festa of successful insurgent outsiders, overturned insiders, and anti-establishment populism that is entirely in keeping with a national tradition of general political chaos. But on another level, those with an eye on the deeper currents will rightly see the events in Italy as a symptom of more profound changes that are sweeping through Europe’s creaking party systems, and that still have a long way to run.

‘I made Steve Bannon’s psychological warfare tool’: meet the data war whistleblower | News | The Guardian

‘I made Steve Bannon’s psychological warfare tool’: meet the data war whistleblower | News | The Guardian



Cambridge Analytica and all that!

The spread of true and false news online | Science

The spread of true and false news online | Science

Democracy Index 2017 I EIU

http://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/Democracy_Index_2017.pdf?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTVRnd05ETTNNelJqWlRVMSIsInQiOiJUN3VlM0N2VzJEXC95bG41Mmxzc0V1YnI0bjVDWXFhK1wvVm5GODFoZE8rcityN2hsT0dFdGZKMVFPZDNUOEhJdjRMTXR6OXhLOXBnOU83OEQrb2Z6K1JZdHVRNVwva2RpMTdnczV5a2Y5bDc4ZkZjdVpNNGJzamt4eElYa3JDWnJtSSJ9

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide for 165 independent states and two territories. This covers almost the entire population of the world and the vast majority of the world’s states (microstates are excluded). The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Based on its scores on a range of indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: “full democracy”; “flawed democracy”; “hybrid regime”; and “authoritarian regime”. 

Report: Lessons for EU Integration from US History

Report: Lessons for EU Integration from US History

:The Political Economy of Liberal Democracy" Rodrik & Mukand (NBER wp)

w21540.pdf

Abstract. We distinguish between three sets of rights – property rights, political rights, and civil rights – and provide a taxonomy of political regimes. The distinctive nature of liberal democracy is that it protects civil rights (equality before the law for minorities) in addition to the other two. Democratic transitions are typically the product of a settlement between the elite (who care mostly about property rights) and the majority (who care mostly about political rights). Such settlements rarely produce liberal democracy,
as the minority has neither the resources nor the numbers to make a contribution at the bargaining table. We develop a formal model to sharpen the contrast between electoral and liberal democracies and highlight circumstances under which liberal democracy can emerge. We discuss informally the difference between social mobilizations sparked by industrialization and decolonization. Since the latter revolve around identity cleavages rather than class cleavages, they are less conducive to liberal politics.

Υπόθεση Novartis: Οι καταθέσεις των δύο προστατευόμενων μαρτύρων για τις μίζες σε πολιτικά και μη πρόσωπα - Ολα τα ντοκουμέντα που περιλαμβάνονται στη δικογραφία - κοινωνία - Το Βήμα Online

Υπόθεση Novartis: Οι καταθέσεις των δύο προστατευόμενων μαρτύρων για τις μίζες σε πολιτικά και μη πρόσωπα - Ολα τα ντοκουμέντα που περιλαμβάνονται στη δικογραφία - κοινωνία - Το Βήμα Online

Timothy Taylor : "Is the Euro Out of Danger?"

via Mark Thoma
http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.gr/2018/02/is-euro-out-of-danger.html

with lots of interesting refs

Ezra Klein : "...how democracies die..." - Vox

Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and how democracies die - Vox

...to survive, political systems need parties who place fundamental values above immediate political or policy gain

Five tests that will judge Greece’s bailout exit

Five tests that will judge Greece’s bailout exit

A constructive approach to euro area reform : CEPR

PolicyInsight91.pdf

The need to improve the euro area financial
architecture to make it less vulnerable to crises
and to deliver long-term prosperity to all its
members remains as strong as ever. Nevertheless, .... 

via Leonid Bershidsky at Bloomberg View  

Steve Fuller : "... .but what about the Alt-Left?"

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2018/01/15/what-about-the-alt-left/

...I can only take a first step here. It would involve reviving the original left’s strong distinction between humanity’s past, as embodied in its history, and humanity’s future, as embodied in its potential – the one to be discarded, or at least avoided, and the other to be cultivated and made allowed to flourish. This would mean restoring ‘progress’ as a central term in political discourse and steering away from more past-looking ‘reparative’ notions of social justice, which have made it all too easy for Breitbart to concoct its own, currently dominant version of an ‘Alt-Left’.

Djibouti, The most valuable military real estate in the world

https://www.politico.eu/blogs/the-coming-wars/2018/01/the-most-valuable-military-real-estate-in-the-world/

Dijsselbloem and the lessons of the eurozone debt crisis : FT

https://www.ft.com/content/f35c0354-f6d7-11e7-88f7-5465a6ce1a00

Dani Rodrik : "In Defense of Economic Populism"

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/defense-of-economic-populism-by-dani-rodrik-2018-01

Populists’ aversion to institutional restraints extends to the economy, where they oppose obstacles placed in their way by autonomous regulatory agencies, independent central banks, and global trade rules. But while populism in the political domain is almost always harmful, economic populism can sometimes be justified.

Dani Rodrik's weblog: Taking a Crack at Neoliberalism

Dani Rodrik's weblog: Taking a Crack at Neoliberalism