The strong performance by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) is related to the electorate’s change of heart coinciding with the massive floods in mid-July this year. Rather than blowing winds in the sails of environmentalists, the natural catastrophe triggered an increase in the SPD consensus from 16% to 26% in one month.

We are living in the century of the cities. 55% of the world population lives in cities nowadays. 80% of the world GDP can be attributed to cities’ economy. Italian national government need to realize this especially at a moment when our country has taken the Presidency of the G20 morevoer, within the G20 framework, as a matter of fact, the engagement group of the Urban-20 (U20) will be hosted by Rome and Milan to gather the Mayors from the most important cities.

The political path forward for Giuseppe Conte is getting narrower. If the States General for the economy have helped the government get through the summer, many political and economic problems will arise for Conte in the autumn, when it will be necessary to decide on the 2021 budget. A SoG monthly report.

“The EU perspective of a new, deeper and broader, idea of reciprocity opens the door to new understandings of trade’s cultural impact, on the one hand, and, on the other, on multiple and various forms of cooperation reviving multilateralism by new ways”. An Analysis by Mario Telò about the Europe trade policy and multilateralism

For a long time, Western Europe was a land of stability for parties and party systems. In the late 1960s, Lipset and Rokkan even qualified these party systems as ‘frozen’, in that the respective party landscape reflected a more or less unchanging environment over the previous 40 years. The last decade has shown a radically different story, with unparalleled changes occurring in different areas.

The dramatic human, social, and economic problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic require that this stalemate be overcome. This Policy Brief by Giuseppe De Michele e Marcello Messori outline a new solution centered on the possible centralization of the property rights of a part of the existing national infrastructures and of new ones at the European level.

There is a widespread impression that the rejection by the Commission of the initial budget proposed by the Italian government in October contributed to the renewed increase in the risk spread on Italian government bonds. However, there is no real reason for such a link.

The first European Parliament elections after the Brexit referendum, the first after the election of Donald Trump and the success of populist parties (and the instalment of “populist” governments) around Europe. The European Parliament elections of 2019 were a first in many aspects, pointing to relevant questions that might be answered once the votes were in. A new work by Luiss CISE

The view that deficits and higher public debt can be beneficial has received an important boost through the recent presidential address of Prof. Olivier Blanchard at the American Economic Association, entitled: “Public debt and low interest rates”. A new editorial by Daniel Gros.

Daniel Gros and Mattia Di Salvo discuss, numbers at hand, the real situation about the migrant crisis and the role played in it so far by Italy and Germany

Andrea Lorenzo Capussela analyses the latest developments of Italy’s political situation, arguing that while the new government might restore some stability, it is unlikely to tackle the real roots of the crisis, namely low growth, rising inequality, and political distrust

Mohammed Hashas analyses the question if there is or there is not such a thing as an Islamic European thought. he argues that European Muslims do have their own thought, in theology as well. Such thought can have an influence even in the Arab world

The ECB announces the end of the extraordinary monetary policies: the markets do not make a move, as does the spread. What if the quantitative easing has not been a “protective shield” for Italy then? What if it only contributed to change the composition of the Italian public debt, with only temporary effects on the risk premium? Doubts and non-mainstream clues

Draghi’s quantitative easing has been a determining factor in breaking the ‘doom loop’ between weak banks and weak Countries. Now, after the extraordinary monetary policies, there is a development cycle stronger than before, as in the case of exports and capital flows

Daniel Gros analyses the state of regional convergence within the European context. He finds that different country groups have had quite different experiences following the financial crisis and that in most cases there has been little convergence across regions within countries. More importantly, the seemingly permanent differences in regional per capita income are for some countries mainly the result of differences in occupation ratios.

The European Commission’s slap on Italy’s wrist does not take into account a few factors: the robustness of our budget surpluses, the generous contribution to the European home and those advantages that the Euro has granted to the reference country in the Old Continent, that is to say Germany. These are the elements that Brussels should consider before sending its next letter

In the identification between single currency and neoliberal policies, that’s where the anti-Euro movement as well the advocates of the status quo are splashing around. Both, armed against one other, pretend not to see that the problem is not the single currency itself, but the intellectual climate that is now prevailing in Europe. Here are some ideas to finally change direction without blowing up the whole continent, taken from Francesco Saraceno’s preface to the Italian edition of Martin Sandbu’s book “Europe’s Orphan”.

The LUISS School of European Political Economy continues to examine the German line on the reform of the single currency and the European Union. The new policy document by Baglioni and Bordignon responds to the “non-paper” by its former Minister of Finance

Angela Merkel is Chancellor again, but building a coalition government will not be an easy task. Future developments following this election will also have an impact on the European Union: from austerity to the European Monetary Fund and Schäuble’s role, the forecasts in a paper by the LUISS School of European Political Economy

It is a common belief that Europe needs more investment, but not according to Daniel Gros: actually, less investments may indicate more growth

The discussion on the renewal of the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific areas, which is due to expire in 2020, was the focus of a seminar organized by the LUISS School of Government

Accordin to Martin Sandbu from the Financial Times, the crisis that hit the eurozone should not be blamed on the euro, but on a series of political mistakes. Sanbu’s latest book, published by Princeton UP, will be out soon in its Italian translation for LUISS University Press

Would it be possible to have a common budget and a single Minister of finance in the eurozone ? Francesco Saraceno’s analysis in the latest number of his column for LUISS Open

The ECB has already bought close to €1,800 billion of bonds. it is not possible to determine where rates would be today if the ECB had not engaged in its ‘quantitative easing’. It is possible, however, to ‘follow the money trail’ to ascertain how much was bought and by whom.

The Assemblée is renewed, younger and undoubtedly legitimated to implement the President’s agenda. However, its socio-economic composition does not reflect French reality and it is unclear how this Parliament will be able to bring the people back to the polls

Mattia Guidi’s editorial, examining the role held by the main protagonists in the U.K.’s general elections and outlining the possible future developments for the British government

The economist Aghion has participated in a meeting organized by LUISS. From the Eurozone slowly growing again, to the rising inequality in the world, here are his thoughts collected for you by Open

An op-ed by Daniel Gros, director of Brussels-based think tank CEPS, on the elections in France and on their impact from a European point of view

Romano Ferrari Zumbini presents some reflections on the European Union, its current status and future prospects. Drawn and adapted from a longer piece featured in the magazine “Il Mulino”

There are two keys for responding to the demand for flexible, innovative economies, able to adapt to technological change and the challenges put forward by globalization: investing in human capital and reviving the internal market

The volume “Still a Western World? Continuity and change in global order” edited by Sergio Fabbrini and Raffaele Marchetti provides an analytical interpretation of the complex scenario of International Relations, while trying to explain its tendencies and to anticipate its future developments

In honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Franco Bruni, Sergio Fabbrini and Marcello Messori propose a possible strategy to relaunch the European integration process while hypothesizing a great involvement from Italy