The combination of an economic downturn and rapidly rising inflation is a new experience for most Europeans. The Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war produced unprecedented disruptions, or as economists would say: a shock on both the supply and demand sides. And, as the holiday season kicked in, a forceful tightening of monetary policy signalled […]
Poverty
Wages should never leave workers and their families living in poverty. However, that has been the reality for one in ten workers in Europe. The EU minimum wage directive is a step in the right direction for fairer wages across Europe. Nonetheless, this directive is not an end in itself. More work needs to be done to maximise its potential benefit and ensure that wages are collectively bargained. Collective bargaining is a collective benefit: it means better outcomes for workers, the economy and society as a whole.
The last 40 years have seen a remarkable – and prolonged – global experiment in inequality. While the post-war years of social reform led a new drive towards greater equality, that trend was then set in reverse. Today most rich nations are significantly more unequal than in the 1980s. This reversal has been driven in […]
Hunger, climate, equity. These are the three key challenges resulting from the UN-led Pre-Summit on Food Systems hosted at FAO from 26 to 28 July and will be the focus of the Food Systems Summit scheduled to take place in New York on 23 September during the next General Assembly. Covid-19 has pushed over one […]
The 2019 European elections finally saw the turnout going slightly up. In parallel, Social Democrats noted an unanticipated positive result. Almost two years into the legislative period, despite the pandemic, the polls consistently show two tendencies. First, Europeans tend to be positive about the EU in numbers comparable to before the 2008 crash. Second, progressives […]
At the time of Salvador Allende’s election victory on 4 September 1970, Chile was experiencing accelerated urbanisation that was deeply unequal. Confronting the housing deficit, and providing access to urban services and facilities would be one of the challenges of Allende’s Popular government. With creativity and involvement of the people, President Allende tackled innovatively the […]
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