Bill Mitchell — The Flexibility Experiment Inwards Portugal Has Largely Failed

Portugal has been held out past times the Europhile Left every bit a demonstration of how progressive policies tin manifest inward the European Union, fifty-fifty alongside the Fiscal Compact as well as the Stability as well as Growth Pact (SGP). In 2015, later the novel Socialist authorities took over alongside provide guarantees from the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) as well as the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) as well as The Greens (Partido Ecologista “Os Verdes”), it ready near challenging the austerity mindset that has blanketed the European continent inward stagnation. Things improved inward 2016 alongside increased authorities spending. But past times 2017, the European Commission had reasserted its austerity mindset as well as the supposed flexibility that the Left were hoping as well as which Portugal had briefly embraced inward 2016 was gone. And nosotros learned that the neoliberal bias of the Eurozone as well as its financial rules dominates whatever progressive ambitions that a acre state powerfulness entertain. Another blow for the Europhile Left. The lesson: starting fourth dimension looking at as well as supporting leave of absence if y'all are genuinely serious near restoring a progressive policy agenda inward Europe....

Bill Mitchell – billy blog
The flexibility experiment inward Portugal has largely failed
Bill Mitchell | Professor inward Economics as well as Director of the Centre of Full Employment as well as Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia