Economy

Is Amazon destroying more jobs than it creates? 

Wednesday 07 April 2021 | Justin Delépine
| Alternatives Economiques

A study has revealed the negative impact of e-commerce on employment, counting the number of jobs created and destroyed.

man staring at a large shop

How VAT hinders effective redistribution of wealth 

Thursday 29 April 2021 | Justin Delépine
| Alternatives Economiques

VAT is a regressive tax, putting more burden to the poor than to the rich. Indeed, VAT applies the same rate to everyone regardless of their level of wealth – but the richer you are, the lower the proportion of your revenue goes to consumption. VAT cancels out one-third of the effects of fiscal redistribution.

The hidden agenda behind the Recovery and Resilience Facility 

Thursday 29 April 2021 | Nikos Morfonios
| MIIR

Member countries will be continuously assessed for meeting targets and reforms in order to receive their share of the recovery fund. If European governments do not comply with the agreed recovery plan, the purse strings will be tightened.

The gender pay gap could close in 257 years  

Tuesday 02 March 2021 | Laszlo Arato
| EUrologus

The opportunity gap for men and women is closing in many areas, but women are still losing out in the economy. In almost all countries men earn significantly more than women, they dominate companies’ boards of directors and politics. And, according to preliminary surveys, women are becoming even more disadvantaged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How Croatia plans to spend €22 billion in EU funds 

Wednesday 16 December 2020 | Toni Gabrić
| H-Alter

Croatia is expected to receive a good wealth of EU funds in the coming years. However, the strategic priorities doesn't appear very bold and clear, and the plan for the use of the Recovery Fund is not ready yet.

Remote working: a revolution in need of rules 

Tuesday 15 December 2020 | Vincent Grimault
| Alternatives Economiques

Telework has mainly been a revolution by accident, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people have now discovered its upside and potential, but also its risks and limits. However, bad working conditions linked to nomadic or at-home work are not inevitable.

If Brussels wants to reduce fertilisers and pesticides 

Tuesday 27 April 2021 | Cédric Vallet
| Alternatives Economiques

With its "farm to table" strategy, the European Commission aims to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilisers and at the same time increase organic production by 2030. But how? 

Can the green transition help in solving fiscal and monetary divergencies in the EU? 

Thursday 27 August 2020 | Petter Aspestrand
| OBC Transeuropa

The COVID-19 pandemic may have opened a window of opportunity for the European Union to strengthen its fiscal cohesion and to put the climate transition on the right track.

Saving culture from the pandemic 

Monday 26 April 2021 | Alexander Damiano Ricci
| Voxeurop

Eurostat data from 2019 show that in Europe, on average, 32 percent of workers employed in the Cultural and Creative Industry were self-employed. In some countries this percentage reaches almost 50%. The EU is pumping money into the CCI, but that won't be enough for a sector that structurally hinges on precarious working relationships.

A cultural pandemic: How Covid-19 hit Europe’s creative sector 

Monday 26 April 2021 | Alexander Damiano Ricci
| Voxeurop

Due to COVID-19, the economic losses of the European Cultural and Creative Industry (CCI) businesses will add up to billions of Euros. The EU stepped in with a top-up of its flagship Creative Europe programme. But pumping more money into the system won’t do. In many EU countries, the crisis has highlighted structural inequalities within the sector. And workers have started to mobilise.