POLITHEOR
European Policy Network
Blog 3 Columns
- Home
- Blog 3 Columns
The EU and Bosnia-Herzegovina on a slippery slope0
- International Relations and Global Affairs, Op-ed
- 28/11/2016
In the last weeks, the political leaders of Bosnia-Herzegovina have pushed the country into a new crisis. The reason behind it was the Serbian entity’s decision to hold a referendum on whether 9th January should become the Day of Republika Srpska. This was widely opposed by the Croats and Bosniaks in the country, and also by the EU.
READ MORE
Politheor’s Special Report: The Gender Agenda5
- Human Rights and Migration, Special Report
- 25/11/2016
Why do we need a gender agenda?
READ MORE
The 500 Euro banknote nightmare5
- Op-ed, Social and Economic Policy
- 22/11/2016
On May 4th 2016, the European Central Bank has decided to permanently end the production of the €500 banknote by the end of 2018. On the other hand, the circulating €500 banknotes will still remain legal tender and retain their value even after 2018. What’s behind such decision and what are the consequences for the European citizens? Is it feasible for us to have a €500 banknote in our wallet and exchange it within the European Monetary Union? Well, it might depend…
READ MORE
Policy dead-end: Central Banks’ continued use of DSGE Models0
- Op-ed, Social and Economic Policy
- 15/11/2016
The financial crisis ushered in an era where monetary policy has been disproportionately tasked with mending a sluggish economy. Central banks have taken, far from their original remit, extraordinary, and historically unprecedented steps in an attempt to boost economic activity, stabilise financial markets and spur inflation. With central banks wielding ever-greater influence on economic policy, the continued use of questionable policy-setting models, such as the Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium or DSGE model, should be reviewed.
READ MORE
Egypt and climate change: let your civil society grow strong0
- Environment and Energy, Op-ed
- 14/11/2016
We are in the midst of the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC which is scheduled to take place from 7-18 November 2016 in Marrakech, Morocco. During COP 22, parties will begin preparations for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. The agreement adopted last December to limit global temperature increase below 2C. This reduction can only be achieved through a significant reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases caused mainly by burning of fossil fuels.
READ MORE
Human Rights: None of your business?1
- Human Rights and Migration, International Trade, Op-ed
- 11/11/2016
Have you heard of the latest steps towards an International Treaty on Business and Human Rights?
READ MORE
Governments don’t propose, markets dispose0
We were told that, if financial markets were free, they could work miracles: savings would be efficiently allocated and risk would be spread around, thereby lowering the risk of doing business and boosting economic growth and welfare.
READ MORE
The challenge of integrating refugees into host countries’ labour markets0
In 2015, over 1.3 million people requested asylum in EU, representing more than double the number of applicants in 2014. During the first quarter of 2016, the number of persons seeking asylum from non-EU countries in the EU reached 287.100. The arrival of such an unprecedented number of asylum seekers poses an important challenge to the European Union and its Member States, that goes further than the humanitarian level and introduces the problem of socio-economic integration of the newly arrived refugees into their host countries.
READ MORE
A British nuclear disaster? The go- ahead for Hinkley Point C1
- Environment and Energy, Op-ed
- 03/11/2016
The terrifyingly bad-value Hinkley Point C deal based on out-dated renewables projections and unproven nuclear technology offers an already archaic answer to a problem that could be solved with ever- cheaper alternative renewables. Instead, affirmation of the nuclear renaissance for the UK demonstrates a desperate grasp at international cooperation in the wake of Brexit.
READ MORE