Juncker’s false hope: a public investment plan without public investment

Martin Myant of the ETUI argues that the European ‘investment plan’ unveiled in late November by Jean-Claude Juncker falls far short of what is needed to get Europe growing again

When will Europe recover?

The European Union has performed exceptionally badly in economic terms in comparison with the world as a whole since 2008. The ETUI’s publication Benchmarking Working Europe 2014 poses the question of whether we are not half way through a wasted decade. The first half has been lost already and current policies promise little more than slow growth over the next few years

Did the Troika get it right?

Martin Myant of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) examines the forecasting record of the European Commission and finds it wantin

Upwards convergence: why wage growth should be a priority for central and eastern Europe

Wages vary significantly across European countries, but would increasing wages to create more convergence in pay levels have a damaging impact on competitiveness? Drawing on the examples of the Czech Republic, Germany and Romania, Martin Myant argues that there is scope for raising wages in central and eastern European countries to draw closer to western European levels without generating negative economic side-effects

Why internal devaluation fails

Martin Myant of the European Trade Union Institute presents evidence from a new book analysing national responses to the eurozone crisis which shows that the European Commission’s gauge of competitiveness – Unit Labour Costs – was the wrong measure and contributed to disastrous policies which deepened the recession. The solution, he says, is to focus on improving competitiveness by rising up the value chain, which requires investment in infrastructure, education, training and researc

The results of Italy’s 2012 labour-market reforms – no solution to unemployment

Gabriele Piazza and Martin Myant of the European Trade Union Institute criticise recent labour market reforms in Italy which aim to tackle unemployment by cutting protection for workers on permanent contracts. There is no evidence that this works, and Italy would be better off addressing structural problems in the Italian econom

Spain’s labour market reforms: no solution to its employment problems

Martin Myant and Laszlo Horwitz of the ETUI in Brussels argue that the Spanish economy, after experiencing one of the largest falls in employment and increases in unemployment of all EU member states, is now showing some signs of recover

Mario Draghi is right to doubt that austerity is working, but wrong to argue for wage reductions

Martin Myant and Agnieszka Piasna, of the ETUI in Brussels, pick apart recent pronouncements from the ECB’s Mario Dragh

Varieties of capitalism, varieties of vulnerabilities: financial crisis and its impact on welfare states in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States

"Der Beitrag untersucht die Implikationen der Finanzkrise von 2008 auf die Wohlfahrtsstaaten und die Spielarten des Kapitalismus in der post-kommunistischen Welt, einschließlich Osteuropa und der Gemeinschaft Unabhängiger Staaten. Es werden drei politökonomische Dimensionen von Variation analysiert: die des Kapitalismus, der Leistungen des Sozialstaats und der Vulnerabilität gegenüber der Krise. Diese drei Dimensionen sind miteinander verknüpft; zusätzliche Varianzen kommen durch politische und policy-Faktoren ins Spiel. Die Wachstumsmodelle der einzelnen Volkswirtschaften schufen unterschiedliche Zwänge für die Anpassungspolitik der Staaten in Reaktion auf die Krise. So war die currency substitution mit einer starken politischen Präferenz für die Verteidigung der Umtauschkurse verbunden, die als Anpassungsmaßnahme vor allem eine Reduktion öffentlicher Ausgaben und der Löhne einschloss. Unterschiede in den Wohlfahrtsstaatssystemen lassen sich zudem auf die unterschiedliche politische Unterstützung für Sozialleistungen zurückführen, die wiederum eng mit der Präsenz der entsprechenden Interessen im politischen System zusammenhängen. Das Wechselspiel zwischen diesen Zwängen und politischen Faktoren sowie mit der Intervention internationaler Institutionen prägen die Art und Weise, wie die Wohlfahrtsstaaten an die Krise angepasst werden. Frühere Entwicklungen führen zudem zu einigen unerwarteten Ergebnissen." (Autorenreferat)"This paper investigates the implications of the 2008 financial crisis on welfare states and the capitalist diversity in the post-communist world, including Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It analyzes three political-economic varieties in the region: those of capitalism, welfare, and vulnerabilities to the crisis. The three varieties are linked, but there is also a considerable variation given the importance of political and policy factors. Economic growth models created different political and economic constraints on policies of adjustment to the crisis. In particular, currency substitution was associated with strong political preferences for defending exchange rates, with adjustment through reductions in public spending and wages. A variety of welfare models was associated with different political constituencies for welfare provision. The interplay of these constraints and political factors together with intervention of international institutions shapes the nature of welfare state adjustments. Early developments also indicate some unexpected outcomes." (author's abstract