Causes for Optimism in 2022

In this comment on future prospects for 2022, prepared for the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) Progressive Yearbook (January 26, 2022), I express cautious optimism for the future of economic governance and democracy in the European Union. 

The shift in economic ideas – from the obsession with deficit and debt to a focus on investment for the green transition and the digital transformation while addressing social inequality at the same time – should largely be credited with this turnaround in economic prospects. But EU economic governance has also played an important role, as it has moved from a largely top-down exercise to a more bottom-up one in which national capitals are now in the driver’s seat through their National Resilience and Recovery Plans (NRRPs).

Read the full text of my comments here: https://www.feps-europe.eu/attachments/publications/pyb2022%20vivien%20a%20schmidt.pdf