From The Hedgehog Review, Philippe Beneton (Rennes): Europe and the New Democracy; and Petra Huyst (Ghent): Generation Europe. Ana Carrillo (Leicester): European and Political Identity in a “Transnational Paradise”. Alina Mungiu-Pippidi (Hertie): Transformative Power of Europe. Patricia Esteve and Bernd Theilen (Rovira i Virgili): European Integration: Partisan Motives or Economic Benefits? Nauro F Campos, Fabrizio Coricelli, Luigi Moretti on how rich nations and poorer nations benefit from EU membership. The rise of the “creative class” as the motor of economic growth means that countries which promote technology, talent and tolerance will do best — will this lead to higher inequality? Income inequality — exacerbated by an age gap, a skills gap, and other trends in technology and society — will pose the single greatest societal challenge for the European Union in the coming decades. The left can please neither rich nor poor: Large sections of the lower classes see social change as disturbing, writes John Lloyd. Ferdinando Giugliano reviews European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess and How to Put Them Right by Philippe Legrain. Are European parliamentarians responsive to their voters? Catherine E. de Vries investigates. Paul Krugman on the crisis of the Eurocrats: The European project is in deep trouble — the Continent still has peace, but it’s falling short on prosperity and, in a subtler way, democracy; and on Europe’s secret success: It turns out that those welfare states, with their generous social benefits, are beating America at job creation hands down. Do the European elections signal the end of the EU as we know it? Across Europe voters have rejected the political elite, turning in their droves to radical nationalist parties that want to see the end of the European Union.
