Left Case Against the EU

Costas Lapavitsas is Professor of Economics at SOAS University of London.

"For those wanting a clear and concise summary of the left case against the euro and of the misrepresentation of German European hegemony as the consummation of the 'European idea', there is no way around this book. Nowhere has the political economy of the common currency and of German ascendancy in Europe been more clearly exposed."—Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies"Costas Lapavitsas is the most important commentator on the EU and its current crises, including Brexit. This is one of the most significant books on modern politics to appear in the last decade, and virtually the only one fully to grasp the nature of our present situation."—Richard Tuck, Harvard University"Important and timely"—E-International Relations"In 2015, a left-wing government in Athens was wrestling with Berlin and Brussels.  Two prominent economists took part in the scuffle: one, Yanis Varoufakis, became Minister of Finance; the other, Costas Lapavitsas, was a member of the ruling party, Syriza.  The first was a Europhile who viewed the capitulation of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as an invitation to struggle for 'another Europe'. The second, always the sceptic, saw his views confirmed by the debacle."—Le Monde Diplomatique"Expedient, informed and lucid."—LSE Review of Books

• Ch. 1. The European Union and the Left1.1 Fragmentation and retreat of democracy1.2 The challenge for the LeftCh. 2. The evolution of the EU since Maastricht2.1. Neoliberalism and hegemony in the EU – drawing on Hayek2.2. Neoliberalism and state monopoly over money2.3. Creating the euro: A lever of neoliberalism and conditional German hegemony2.4. The “architectural flaws” of the euro2.5. The broader context of conditional German hegemonyCh. 3. The ascendancy of Germany and the division of Europe3.1. A distinctive financialised economy3.2. The defeat of German labour in the 1990s3.3. The competitive advantage of Germany and the creation of the Southern periphery3.4. The unstable core of the EMU and the Central European peripheryCh. 4. The Eurozone crisis: Class interests and hegemonic power4.1. Crisis erupts4.2. Imposing a neoliberal agenda4.3. An unstable and fraught equilibriumCh. 5. Greece in the iron trap of the euro5.1 The proximate causes of the Greek crisis5.2 Long-term weaknesses of the Greek economy5.3. The lenders impose bail-outs and bring disaster5.4. Class and national interests in the Greek disaster5.5 The political debacle of SYRIZACh. 6. Seeking democracy, sovereignty, and socialism6.1. Democracy and sovereignty in the EU, once again6.2 The impossibility of radical reform6.3. A class-based stance for the Left6.4. What to do?