Stuart Brown takes a look at the week in blogging.

The EU centre and the crisis

Simon Wren-Lewis, writing at Mainly Macro, tackles the common misconception that indebted states can be viewed as analogous to households who have ‘borrowed too much and must therefore cut back on their borrowing’. He suggests an alternative comparison: that states should be like ‘innovative firms’ who invest when the cost of borrowing is cheap.

Paul Krugman, in a similar vein, asks whether there is any point to economic analysis, given that governments still persist with austerity policies against the advice of economists.

Across Europe

Open Europe write on the Gibraltar-Spain border dispute, which began after Gibraltar created an artificial reef beside its territory. They note imaginatively that EU law may leave Spain ‘caught between a rock and a hard place’ over the issue.

Meanwhile, Chris Dillow at Stumbling and Mumbling asks whether classic liberal arguments in favour of free speech need to be reassessed in light of a spate of abuse cases on Twitter.

The European neighbourhood

New Israel-Palestine peace talks are due to begin next week. Daniel Levy at the European Council on Foreign Relations speculates on the motivations of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Clara Marina O’Donnell at the Centre for European Reform gives an overview of what the EU can do to facilitate a deal.

Elsewhere in the European neighbourhood, Michelle Pace, writing at the Conversation, argues that the EU is sending mixed messages to Egypt over its recent crisis.

And finally…

The Daily Mash pokes fun at British MEP Godfrey Bloom, who came in for some stick this week after using the term ‘Bongo Bongo Land’ to refer to the destination of UK overseas aid.

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Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics.

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