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PAGOULATOS G. - The Political Economy of Europe in Crisis and Beyond (25h)
Professor George PAGOULATOS
Since 2009 Europe and the Eurozone were engulfed in a far-reaching and prolonged crisis. What started from the other side of the Atlantic, soon spread into Europe as a global financial crisis, subsequently transmuting into various crises: a (private and sovereign) debt crisis, a banking and a fiscal crisis, an economic and social crisis for the member states specifically affected, and thus a socio-political crisis and a crisis of democracy. The Eurozone crisis exposed the construction defects of EMU, was aggravated by the policy failures at national and EU level, and thrust the viability of the EMU project into doubt. It generated poisonous divisions and discontent, both within and between member states, splitting the Eurozone between creditors and debtors, unleashing forces of fragmentation. It also gave impetus to institutional and policy reform initiatives, in a Eurozone operating in perpetual crisis mode.
Starting with the historical context identifying important long-term trends of European integration, this course will focus on the recent Eurozone crisis as an opportunity to reflect on the EMU asymmetries, and the political economy of reform in hard times. It will seek to understand the workings and interdependencies between institutions, socio-politics and economics, between the national, the intergovernmental, and the European. It will shed light on the rationale underlying policy decisions, on the complex dilemmas and trade-offs, coalitions, winners and losers, broader implications, and crucial stakes involved.
A “real” policy orientation will be combined with a political economy perspective. A series of introductory
lectures on the subject will be followed by seminars on specific topics, in which students are expected to present short essays.