Blog
2016
2016 and the return of the nation-state
Helen Thompson - 21 December 2016Whilst the turbulence of this year has caused political shocks the apparent resurgence of the nation-state should be no surprise
Liberal vs populist economic policies in France 2017
Renee Buhr - 20 December 2016Whoever is elected as President in April is set to introduce a break from business as usual in French economic policy
Where next for discussions on household food insecurity in the UK?
Hannah Lambie-Mumford - 19 December 2016Finding progressive policy responses that tackle food insecurity is essential for reducing in work poverty
The condition of labour and democracy under the state of emergency in Turkey
Mehmet Erman Erol - 16 December 2016Turkey’s AKP government is using the state of emergency to curtail labour rights and introduce regressive economic reforms
The end of globalisation?
Jeremy Green - 13 December 2016Proclamations of the ‘death’ of globalisation are premature
The world as we know it is a world that never was
Craig Berry - 07 December 2016Donald Trump’s election reminds us that world order is based on American imperial power, not liberal ideals – the American empire’s unravelling will now be accelerated
How new donor countries are reshaping the development aid landscape
Gail Hurley - 06 December 2016Development aid is increasingly being provided by middle-income economies. This is a significant change in a shifting global aid landscape
The grief before the storm
David Coates - 05 December 2016Overcoming the grief caused by Trump’s victory requires us to analyse the sources of our pain
The odd case of Jeremy Corbyn’s increasingly right-wing Labour Party
Glen O'Hara - 01 December 2016Labour’s recent economic policy positions highlight a curious rightwards drift under Corbyn and McDonnell
Brexit, May & Trump: the dangerous illusion of ‘taking back control’
Ben Clift - 30 November 2016Economic patriotism is an analytical frame which can help explain the failings of a xenophobic populism which fails to acknowledge the complex realities of our economic interdependence –and risks exacerbating further political disaffection.
The view from COP22: frustration, uncertainty and Nordic leadership
Kaisa Pietilä - 29 November 2016This month’s UN conference mixed post-Paris optimism with concerns about future climate change governance
High hopes: what now for the cannabis ‘green rush’ under Trump?
Matt Bishop - 28 November 2016The likely evolution of cannabis policy highlights the domestic and external political economy constraints facing President Trump
Scotch mist: Brexit and independence
Paul Sutton - 26 November 2016The SNP is using the uncertainty caused by Brexit to remake the case for independence – yet the warning signs about Scotland’s economy should already be on
Mandatory transparency, discretionary disclosure
Genevieve LeBaron - 23 November 2016New transparency regulations in some places theoretically require companies to report on forced labour in their supply chains, but a new review finds that’s not what’s happening
Trump, Brexit and neoliberalism
Simon Wren-Lewis - 22 November 2016To understand the twin electoral disasters of 2016 we need to consider the central role played by austerity and the media
A time for governing in prose (and spreadsheets)
Andy Westwood - 22 November 2016Philip Hammond is facing significant political and fiscal challenges which mean his first Autumn Statement is likely to be a sobering affair
Corbynism, martyrdom and the other Labour split – part II
Craig Berry - 03 October 2016Labour will not split, but Corbynism might – Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party depends on a large group of activists increasingly uneasy with his approach to politics
The Crosland Legacy: Lessons for the British Left
Patrick Diamond - 28 September 2016Anthony Crosland’s persuasive case for social democratic ideals and insights into the nature of the economy and politics still have great resonance today
Corbynism, martyrdom and the other Labour split – part I
Craig Berry - 26 September 2016Jeremy Corbyn’s destructive utopianism has been reaffirmed by Labour Party members – but there are signs of a widening divergence among Corbyn’s support base, with uncertain implications for Labour’s future
The UK is sinking deeper into property inequality – here’s why
Tom Goodfellow - 23 September 2016In the UK and in developing countries enormous wealth is generated from property. New approaches and action is needed to value and tax property wealth
The hollowness of GDP: The case of Ireland
Dan Bailey & John Barry - 22 September 2016Ireland’s GDP statistics highlight the disconnect between ‘official’ growth and the real economy, and raise questions about the nature of growth itself
What if the national economy is like a household budget?
Matt Bishop - 20 September 2016An inexpert population frequently internalises misleading economic ideas: experts should consider engaging on these terms rather than always trying to get the economics ‘right’
‘Eating power’ and the oligopolisation of the Haitian food economy
Merisa Thompson - 15 September 2016As one of the world’s poorest countries, the inequities in Haiti’s local food economy are deeply rooted in its troubled history and its elite-dominated political economy
Mainstream economics and the crisis of imagination: Part II
Jamie Morgan - 13 September 2016New initiatives can transform economics to make it part of the solution rather than part of the problem
Jeremy Corbyn: a Polanyian critique
Craig Berry - 08 September 2016Corbynism represents a ‘fictitious commodity’ in the UK’s political marketplace
Mainstream economics and the crisis of imagination: Part I
Jamie Morgan - 06 September 2016In times of crisis the predictions of mainstream economics persistently fail; alternative approaches to economics are required
‘Brexit means Brexit’ must not mean ‘keep calm and carry on’
John Mikler - 31 August 2016The UK needs a long-term project of nation-building, not continuation with the neoliberal policy settings of the last 40 years
Is Lloyds Britain’s most boring bank?
Adam Barber - 30 August 2016Lloyds have embraced the ‘boring banking model’ but whether they are a trailblazer for the other major British banks or simply an outlier remains unclear.
How Tax Inspectors Without Borders are tackling lost tax revenues
Gail Hurley - 23 August 2016Developing countries lose billions annually through tax avoidance and evasion. New UN-led initiatives are helping but global action is still required.
Brexit Britain and the political economy of undemocracy: Part II – the left
Craig Berry - 17 August 2016While the right acts decisively to restore the established order, the Corbyn experiment eschews both democracy and state power, and thus Labour’s best hope of transforming capitalism.
Will ‘decent work’ or Victorian brutality mark India’s dash for the top?
Jonathan Pattenden - 16 August 2016While the government attempts to weaken labour regulations, the organisation of India’s many million informal labourers is likely to gather pace.
Rio and the surreal: The 2016 Olympic Games in a ‘glocal’ context
Giselle Datz - 11 August 2016Paradoxically ritualistic and idiosyncratic, the Rio Olympics are set against a background of perplexing global and local dynamics which converge around the challenge of resilience.
Brexit Britain and the political economy of undemocracy: Part I – the right
Craig Berry - 10 August 2016The aftermath of economic crisis, followed by Brexit, has seen the dismantling of democratic norms in Britain. The right benefits, while the left stands by
Growth and degradation in UK apparel manufacturing
Nikolaus Hammer - 09 August 2016Low paid, precarious and informal employment is commonplace in a sector shaped by new regulatory regimes and global manufacturing trends
A new Five Star Boom: the 2016 Italian municipal elections
Luigi Ceccarini & Fabio Bordignon- 03 August 2016June’s elections saw rising support for the ‘anti-establishment’ Five-Star Movement, which in the context of growing economic instability is an increasingly popular alternative to ‘mainstream politics’
Parcel Delivery Workers and the degradation of work
Kirsty Newsome, Sian Moore & Cilla Ross - 02 August 2016Life for voiceless, low paid parcel delivery workers exposes the harsh realities of degraded work in 21st century Britain
‘Who dun Brexit’: ‘globalisation’ or global neoliberalism?
Tony Payne - 27 July 2016Life for voiceless, low paid parcel delivery workers exposes the harsh realities of degraded work in 21st century Britain
Modern slavery and the gendered paradoxes of labour unfreedom
Alessandra Mezzadri - 26 July 2016Why labour unfreedom is a more useful category than modern slavery to challenge exploitative working relations at home and abroad
Return to the Commonwealth? UK-Africa trade after Brexit
Peg Murray-Evans - 21 July 2016Calls for a post-Brexit return to the Commonwealth ignore the existing privileged EU-Africa trade relationship as well as the UK’s now diminished trade influence
When work doesn’t work
Sophie Moullin - 20 July 2016The left’s focus on full employment fails to address the realities of work and family in the twenty-first century
Austerity has transformed the meaning and morality of work in the UK
Craig Berry - 19 July 2016Measuring economic success through levels of employment obscures the unsustainable and oppressive nature of the UK’s recovery
It’s Independence Day – or is it? Brexit and Scottish independence
Charles Pattie - 15 July 2016Despite a post-Brexit consensus about the UK breaking up – might the chances of Scottish independence now be reduced?
After Brexit where next for UK employment rights?
Jason Heyes - 14 July 2016The new Conservative government could rewrite employment rights, what happens now will depend on whether pragmatism or ideology prevails
The Coming Crisis: we do not have much time
Andrew Gamble - 13 July 2016The political economy problems we face are complex and loom large; new solutions are needed and time is of the essence
Rethinking Recovery: Poverty chains and global capitalism
Benjamin Selwyn - 12 July 2016Reorienting value generated within ‘global poverty chains’ is essential to improve the lives of an impoverished world labour force
Why we need better central bank accountability
Jacqueline Best - 07 July 2016New reforms, underpinned by three basic principles, are needed to make central banks fully accountable
The Coming Crisis: Neoliberalism’s survival and the crisis of imagination
Craig Berry - 06 July 2016To capitalise on the crisis and create a post-neoliberal economic order, progressives need new lenses for understanding everyday economic life
Rethinking Recovery: Labour market exploitation and austerity in the UK
Judy Fudge - 05 July 2016Stopping labour exploitation requires effective regulation of the labour market, not scapegoating migrant and vulnerable workers
Breaking up is hard to do
Andrew Gamble - 04 July 2016Early pointers to what the future may hold for post-Brexit Britain
Rethinking Recovery: Recovery for whom?
Genevieve LeBaron - 04 July 2016Corporate profits are soaring, but so is labour exploitation. Who is the ‘recovery’ really benefiting?
Taking control? The trade policy consequences of Brexit
Gabriel Siles-Brügge - 30 June 2016The only thing uniting the contradictory strands of the trade policy discourse for Brexit was the refrain of ‘taking control’. But in the post-Brexit landscape that will prove more difficult to achieve
Britain and Brexit: the earthquake and its aftershocks
Simon Bulmer - 30 June 2016Six key issues reveal the early impact of the Brexit earthquake, but this is uncharted territory and more aftershocks will follow
From Brexit reflex to Brexistential crisis
Colin Hay - 28 June 2016How did we get here – and where, exactly, is here?
Brexit = austerity squared
Craig Berry - 28 June 2016The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union is a product, ironically, of the political elite’s longstanding aversion to democratic self-rule
Brexit and the left: heading deeper into the void?
Owen Parker - 27 June 2016The support in traditional Labour party heartlands for leaving the EU should serve as a wake up call for the British and European left
Tactics without strategy: Brexit and the politics of conceit
Adam Leaver - 27 June 2016The political and economic forces unleashed by the referendum result now pose profound challenges for Leave politicians and the Labour Party
Repost: Brexistential Crisis – what would Cassandra say?
Colin Hay - 24 June 2016In January Colin Hay, SPERI’s co-director, predicted that Britain would vote to leave the European Union in 2016. Today as that prediction (in the manner of Cassandra) comes to pass we’re reposting Colin’s article which goes on to make two further predictions about the break-up of Britain and a second financial crisis.
The Coming Crisis: The dangers of indecent work
Genevieve LeBaron - 22 June 2016To prevent another economic crisis, we must address the spread and normalization of indecent work
China and the UK’s EU membership: questions beyond the referendum
Nicole Leveringhaus - 21 June 2016Despite the increasingly important UK-China economic ties strong Chinese opposition to ‘Brexit’ has been ignored
Brexit, the PIIGS, and the eurozone crisis
Neil Dooley - 21 June 2016Misleading narratives on the causes of the eurozone crisis have played into the hands of those campaigning for Brexit
EU structural funds and the potential impact of Brexit on the North
William Vittery - 20 June 2016With the EU providing important funding for the economic development of poorer regions, uncertainty looms for the North if Britain votes to leave
Resisting Labour Reforms in France
Heather Connolly - 16 June 2016The current industrial action will test the ‘reactionary radicalism’ of French unions and the Government’s ability to introduce reforms
The Coming Crisis: why global governance doesn’t really work
Tony Payne - 15 June 2016Serious problems undermine the current regime and create a significant ‘global governance deficit’
Mortgage debt and wages: A comparison of Britain and Denmark
James Wood - 14 June 2016Different approaches to mortgage debt may impact wages, how homeowners engage with employers and welfare services, and economic growth
From socialising capital to socialising capitalism
Craig Berry - 09 June 2016Stewart Lansley’s advocacy of the sharing economy is the right idea at the right time, but social wealth funds would be a problematic instrument
The Coming Crisis: The migrant crisis and the future of the European project
Nicola Phillips - 08 June 2016The economic, political and social consequences of failing to respond effectively to the migrant crisis risk accelerating European disintegration
Authoritarian but Flexible: Turkey and recent labour market reforms
Mehmet Erman Erol - 07 June 2016The AKP’s reforms to ‘flexibilise’ the labour market will weaken workers’ rights and further consolidate authoritarian neoliberalism in Turkey
Rio de Janeiro beyond the Olympic Games and the Zika controversy
Giselle Datz - 03 June 2016The real malaise of Rio is not just the Zika virus epidemic, but a fiscal and governance crisis that has engendered its own set of increasing dangers
The Democratic primaries in the shadow of neoliberalism
David Coates - 02 June 2016The Clinton/Sanders battle exposes the challenge of the centre-left to overcome its pre-crisis accommodation with neoliberalism
The Coming Crisis: political economy and the ‘other crisis’
Martin Craig - 01 June 2016How we diagnose and respond to the ‘socio-ecological’ crisis is essential to our understanding of any ‘coming crisis’
UK regions, the European Union and manufacturing exports
Craig Berry - 25 May 2016New analysis of the trade in goods between the UK’s regions and the EU sheds new light on the potential regional implications of Brexit
The Coming Crisis: we’re not in Kansas any more
Helen Thompson - 25 May 2016In the surreal world of post-2008 financial markets and monetary policy ‘black swan’ events shouldn’t surprise us any more
What next for Brazil’s healthcare experiment?
Valbona Muzaka - 24 May 2016A return to neoliberal policies could threaten the future of universal healthcare in Brazil
Recovery, interrupted: Iceland and the Panama Papers
Alyssa Maraj Grahame - 19 May 2016Recent revelations have reopened an angry debate about Icelandic democracy and the links between economic and political recovery
The Coming Crisis: systemic stabilization and the investment state
Andrew Baker & Richard Murphy - 18 May 2016A new ‘investment state’ is needed to provide stability in the new uncertain political economy of shadow money, financial instability and demand deficiency
Financialization of the Italian state: at what cost?
Andrea Lagna - 17 May 2016Modern public debt management and financial innovation have exacerbated Italy’s large, and growing, government debt
Democracy and Eurozone structural adjustment programmes
Alexandros Kyriakidis - 12 May 2016The European Parliament’s new role in Eurozone structural adjustment programmes is institutionally ambiguous and offers only limited democratic improvement.
The Coming Crisis: secular stagnation for the UK?
Jonathan Perraton - 11 May 2016Current economic trends suggest the UK may need to be prepared for a period of weak, and potentially zero economic growth
Why the ‘Panama Papers’ have everything to do with austerity
Matthias Kranke - 10 May 2016After the mass anger caused by tax avoidance revelations we need a wide public debate about tax, better financial regulation and, above all, about austerity
The Steel Crisis: Government, Multinationals and Regional Imbalance
Ewan Gibbs - 05 May 2016Concerns about regional economies mean that even in an increasingly financialised and globalised steel sector the government is maintaining stewardship responsibilities
The Coming Crisis: Is the long-predicted crisis in China finally coming?
Matt Bishop - 04 May 2016A gathering storm is visible on the Chinese horizon, yet the country seems better prepared to ride it out than many predict
Looking beyond the end of the Latin American Pink Tide
Adam Fishwick - 03 May 2016Despite recent electoral defeats for the left social protest and mobilisation in Argentina suggest the Pink Tide’s decline may be overstated
Britain and the EU referendum: a story of losing control?
Simon Bulmer - 28 April 2016Controlling the case for Remain and unpacking the Leave arguments about regaining control are shaping up to be key deciding factors ahead of June 23rd
The Coming Crisis: planetary instability
Peter Dauvergne - 27 April 2016To solve the escalating environmental crisis the unsustainability of global wealth creation must be confronted, argues Peter Dauvergne in our new ‘coming crisis’ blog
The European Union into the maelström
Pavlos Gkasis - 26 April 2016Grexit, Brexit and the migrant crisis are putting the future of the European Union under significant and sustained pressure
The time has come for a progressive TTIP
Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge - 25 April 2016With mounting concern on both sides of the Atlantic that trade politics only serves the interests of the elite, the time has come to use the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to refashion the global trading regime
Brazil on the edge: rhetoric and reality in Rousseff’s impeachment proceeding
Giselle Datz - 22 April 2016Despite claims of a coup, Brazilian democracy has proved more resilient so far than the country’s crumbling economy
Tax avoidance: Not illegal, just harmful and deviant?
Rowland Atkinson - 21 April 2016The furore over tax avoidance, both by our national and international elites, reveals new social fault lines while highlighting a crisis of legitimacy to calls for togetherness and common purpose
The Coming Crisis: the monetary policy credibility trap
Jacqueline Best - 20 April 2016In the latest blog in SPERI’s series on ‘The Coming Crisis’ Jacqueline Best asks: what do central banks and governments do when exceptions to the monetary policy rules keep piling up?
It’s not about tax evasion or avoidance, it’s about inequality
Allister McGregor - 19 April 2016Focusing on politicians’ tax affairs misses the real point: the Panama Papers expose deep structural inequalities and their consequences
Social exclusion and labour rights in the banlieues of Paris: Part II
Heather Connolly - 14 April 2016Trade union support for undocumented migrant workers is taking place in an atmosphere of growing stigmatisation and social tension
The Coming Crisis: enduring imbalances in the Eurozone
Scott Lavery - 13 April 2016In the third blog in SPERI’s new series on ‘the coming crisis’ Scott Lavery examines three areas of imbalance in the Eurozone and argues that the single currency area remains vulnerable to a future economic downturn
Lexit? Careful what you wish for…
Owen Parker - 12 April 2016A number of voices on the British left have in recent months pushed the idea of ‘Lexit’ – a progressive position in favour of Britain leaving the EU. While their critique of the EU has merit, their solution is counterproductive
UK tabloids and the EU referendum: giving us the facts?
Andrew Anzur Clement - 07 April 2016The way that the tabloid press is framing the choice is preventing an informed debate on EU migration
The Coming Crisis: stagflation and the shackles of market discipline
Jeremy Green - 06 April 2016In the second blog in SPERI’s new series on ‘the coming crisis’ Jeremy Green assesses the prospects of unorthodox central bank policies for escaping the stagflation gripping Western capitalism
What is money for?
Andrew Baker - 05 April 2016To meet collective societal challenges, and to respond to future recessions, a different way of thinking about money is required
‘I want to take you to China…’ Culture at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse
Anthony May & Annabel Kiernan - 31 March 2016Manchester’s cultural and sporting brand is increasingly important in attracting global investment to the city
The Coming Crisis: the gathering storm
Colin Hay - 30 March 2016In the first of a new series of weekly SPERI blogs on ‘the coming crisis’ Colin Hay sets out the background to the series and outlines the themes it will explore
The ongoing American housing crisis
David Coates - 29 March 2016The US housing crisis may have slipped down the political agenda but it hasn’t gone away – and young people are being hardest hit
How does low access to finance affect innovation?
Georgios Efthyvoulou - 24 March 2016A major new study highlights the barriers to innovation that face firms from across Europe
Plotting against the NHS
Tony Payne - 23 March 2016A closely interconnected health policy community in Britain has grabbed control of the agenda and seeks to make further marketisation of healthcare the only possible option
Re-framing the funding crisis in adult residential care
Diane Burns & Joe Earle - 22 March 2016New ‘follow the money’ research investigates where the money paid to financialised care home chains goes
Energy Policy and the tensions between austerity and localism
Jon Morris - 17 March 2016Schemes to reduce energy use show how local authorities are caught between devolved responsibilities and centralised resources
Talking the politics of welfare
Liam Stanley - 16 March 2016More and more evidence shows that it matters considerably that British governments have lately been deploying the word ‘welfare’ in an official capacity
Why Labour is losing: a response to O’Hara and Pye
Patrick Diamond - 15 March 2016Corbyn’s ascendance has compounded Labour’s electoral difficulties, but it didn’t create the problem
The making of the modern ‘Debt State’
Sandy Brian Hager - 10 March 2016What we know (and don’t know) about ownership of public debt
Failures and fiascos in public sector outsourcing: will governments never learn?
Heather Connolly - 09 March 2016A review of What a Waste: Outsourcing and how it goes wrong
From Cradle to the Grave? The decline of UK funeral policy provision
Liam Foster - 08 March 2016The Conservative Government will face considerable challenges as people are unable to meet rising funeral costs
George Osborne, banks and the turning tide of regulation in the UK
Adam Barber - 03 March 2016The mood music being played to the City by the majority Conservative government has been quietly but deliberately changed since May 2015
Labour and 2020 – looking forward, not back
Robbie Pye - 02 March 2016The current polls are poor but electoral success will rely on a mass mobilisation campaign and increasing voter turnout
Reconstituting the post-crisis real estate-finance link in Ireland, Spain & the US
Desiree Fields - 01 March 2016The mortgage-led crisis has led to the financialization of rental housing – and new social struggles
The real ‘new politics’ of post-crisis Britain: Part II
Craig Berry - 25 February 2016Austerity is anchored in a new politics of place, but Labour is adrift
Property taxes, public services and wealth
Tom Goodfellow - 24 February 2016Placing property taxation, redistribution and social justice in an ethical context
Key questions for the coming EU referendum
Simon Bulmer - 23 February 2016We now have a date but there are plenty of big questions and unknown steps between now and 23rd June
Corbyn and the Labour Party – taking the longer view?
Glen O'Hara - 17 February 2016Historic polling comparisons highlight the party’s challenges ahead of 2020
This is Britain 80-82: Thatcher and understanding modern politics
Kate Dommett - 16 February 2016A full understanding of Thatcher’s legacy arguably needs more than just 3 years
Inequality knows no compass points
Neil McInroy & Matthew Jackson - 11 February 2016The North/South divide is not the problem. Economic centralism is
Growing the economy from the middle out
Rachel Laurence - 10 February 2016A new growth model must place individual livelihoods at the heart of our regional economic strategy
Organising metaphors and austerity: what the left can learn
Adam Leaver - 09 February 2016Progressives need to think differently about political narrative to shape the political agenda to their advantage
The ‘Devolution Revolution’
Simon Lee - 04 February 2016Governance of the North shouldn’t be reduced to technocratic questions or administering Osborne’s fiscal plans
A book of brilliant things?
Stephen Farrall - 03 February 2016A review of Andy Beckett’s ‘Promised You a Miracle: UK80-82’