What does the European Union do?
Alberto Alesina, Ignazio Angeloni, Ludger Schuknecht
I found this article particularly useful because it gave me a broad understanding and background of the EU. The article raised the question of whether the union was too involved in certain policy-making areas or not involved enough in other areas. For example the EU has extensive influence on national legislation as well as the legislation within EU bounds. I was very intrigued by the portion of the article where the nine policy domains of the EU were discussed. While I predicted areas in Money and Finance, and International Trade, I was surprised by their involvement in "Education, Research, and Culture."
How should the European Union go about finding a balance of power? How do these varying power dynamics affect the corresponding citizens? I'm very curious to learn more about the exact influence EU has over education.
On The Sustainability of the UK State Pension System in the Light of Population Ageing and Declining Fertility
David Blake & Les Mayhew
This article was so interesting to me because it made me explore the relationships between different generations. It focused on the aging population and decreasing fertility rate in the United Kingdom and the subsequent economic strain. The burden is on the working population because the following generation will have less numbers. The current pension system is contingent on either workers being more productive for longer or on the influx of immigrants. I see similarities in the UK and US, with the baby boomer generation reaching retirement and collecting Social Security. I was very intrigued by the proposal to make people work longer and retire later and how that may be affecting youth employment.
What role will immigration play? What is the current immigration policy, is it as strict as the U.S?
Is there a correlation between why older generations are living longer and birth rates are low?
European Unemployment: The Evolution of Facts and Ideas
Olivier Blanchard, Charles Bean, Wolfgang Muncha
Every article proves to be more and more enlightening as it fills in the gaps in my understanding. This article was a great summary of the current state of unemployment in Europe. I found it interesting the the "average" unemployment rate in Europe is really quite unrepresentative country by country because the rate doesn't reflect countries like Spain and Germany who have drastically larger unemployment rates than other countries. I was completely dumbfounded by the impact of oil price price increase and a slowdown in productivity growth. But how can we predict and perhaps be better prepared for sudden changes?
How do we define youth unemployment in operational terms? What age ranges are youth? What does unemployment represent; does it take into account schooling, how long do they have to be unemployed to be be considered?
