Abstract In the German federal elections on September 22, 2013, for the first time after 64 years, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) was not elected to the German federal parliament, the Bundestag, anymore. Less surprising than this fact is the malice of its political opponents with which this...

Purpose – The paper aims to query the value of strategies implemented, notably in France, and to demonstrate the largely ignored link between demographics and economics. Design/methodology/approach – The paper achieves its objective by comparing statistics of European Union (EU) members and...

Purpose – Post 9/11 events not only exposed the visible and invisible aspects of the often intertwined self‐interest of political, economic and especially religious elites, but also presented a practical and ideological vacuum susceptible to “once and for all” opportunistic fantasies of...

Purpose – To show how e‐readiness indicators, specifically the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), participate in the work of defining policy problems. Design/methodology/approach – The article critically examines the Networked Readiness Index in terms of its presentation and its underlying...

Purpose – This article attempts to unravel the ways in which New Labour's economic and social policies differ from those of previous Conservative and Labour administrations. Design/methodology/approach – The article analyses Treasury documents, which outline the philosophy underpinning the...

Purpose – The paper attempts to empirically assess whether GDP per capita or the human capital index is a better measure of happiness. Design/methodology/approach – Cross‐country regressions are run to see how GDP per capita fairs in comparison to the human capital index in explaining...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the ways in which the European Union (EU) is influencing policy making in EU member states. It covers the historical development of the UK, France and Germany. There is evidence to suggest politics and economic policy making in these...

Purpose – Measures of inequality determine the effectiveness of social and economic policies aimed at reducing inequality and to design effective intervention policies. The purpose of this paper is to focus on poverty reduction and welfare improving impacts of reducing income inequality in the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to disenchant advocates of sustainability of the current form of capitalism and to argue that under current intensification of globalisation of economic and political efforts, “privilege” and “alienation” might be...