Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Luke Field, PhD researcher at UCD’s School of Politics and International Relations. (with apologies to Joe Strummer) The German word schuld has multiple meanings and translations, including ‘debt’, ‘guilt’, and ‘blame’. Whether this is a coincidence or a causal factor is not a matter for this blog, but it is certainly interesting, given thatContinue reading “‘Schuld I Stay or Schuld I Go?’ Germany, Greece, and the Politics of Debt and Blame”

Ideology as Insult By Daniel Listwa. MA in Philosophy and Public Affairs at University College Dublin. As the Euro Crisis heated up this past summer, I observed as a level of consensus arose among American, and other English-speaking, audiences with regard to what was happening in the Eurozone: the Germans, driven by moral ideology, set outContinue reading “Ideology, Morality and Rationality: The Uncomfortable Bedfellows of European Integration”

The Brave New World of Central Banking, Monetary Policy and Economic Inequality Let me start with an important empirical observation. Europe is the richest region in the world. Private wealth and private capital is equal to 6-7 times national income in most Euro area countries, even 8 times national income in some countries, such as Italy.Continue reading “Saving capitalism: for the few or the many?”

This blog post is the second in a series of posts that come from students of our 2nd year undergraduate “Capitalism and Democracy” course. As part of the module, students were asked to select and research a topic that is related to the global political economy of redistribution. The best blog posts have been selected to provideContinue reading “Social Democracy, a Second Leviathan?”

This blog post is the first in a series of posts that come from students of our 2nd year undergraduate “Capitalism and Democracy” course. As part of the module, students were asked to select and research a topic that is related to the global political economy of redistribution. The best blog posts have been selected to provideContinue reading “Money for Nothing : Is QE increasing inequality?”

We are currently witnessing a new chapter in the politicisation of EU affairs in the German parliament, the Bundestag. German legislators were asked to vote on further aid measures for Greece three times this year, and support within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s and Finance Mininster Wolfgang Schäuble’s own party (the Conservative CDU) has gradually declined. OnContinue reading “Merkel and Schäuble face an increasing number of party rebels”

UCD politics student Lucie Martin argues that on paper, gender equality is high on the EU agenda, but in practice major political and institutional hurdles remain. In his 10 ‘Commandments’, President Juncker has committed to a more gender-balanced Commission; the European Parliament has maintained continued pressure on other institutions to present and adopt regulatory measures;Continue reading “Gender equality in the EU: the mountain that gave birth to a mouse?”

A guest post from Dr. Alexandre Afonso (University of Leiden). There has been a lot of discussion recently about the rise of left-wing Euroscepticism in Southern Europe in the midst of the Eurozone crisis, with parties like Syriza and Podemos conquering power (in the case of the former) or appearing as serious challengers to mainstream partiesContinue reading “A Map of the Southern European Party System”

Dublin has long been known as a key base for tax avoidance by multinational companies, often setting up “brass plate” operations in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and elsewhere in order to channel profits through their “Irish” subsidiaries and thus minimise their tax liabilities. As Jim Stewart of Trinity College Dublin has shown, suchContinue reading “Ryanair and Dublin’s Role in Undermining European Labour Rights”

The question of taxing labour income continues to elicit fierce debate in Ireland. Much of this has centred on the question of whether Ireland has a “high” or “low” income tax regime. Confusingly, there has been a lack of consensus on the fundamental question: do workers in Ireland, relative to workers in other countries, payContinue reading “Taxing Labour: Beyond “too much” or “too little””