Democracy Challenged

Democracy Challenged

@democracychall.bsky.social

An international, interdisciplinary team based at University College Dublin, we conduct research at the intersection of corporate tax avoidance, wealth distribution, and democratic institutions. Learn more at: https://democracychallenged.com/

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Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

We’re thrilled that the @businesspost.bsky.social has published a major investigation based on findings from our @erc.europa.eu-funded project at @ucddublin.bsky.social. It shines a spotlight on how multinationals shift profits through Ireland. A thread👇 democracychallenged.com/2025/05/06/o...

democracychallenged.comOur ERC Research Featured in The Business PostWe’re thrilled to share that The Business Post has published a detailed investigative report drawing on findings from our European Research Council-funded project at University College Dublin. The …
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

In a world that rewards speed, doubt is a luxury few can afford, and exactly what we need. In this post we explore how the logic of #immediacy reshapes the way we form opinions, and why #academia should resist that pressure. The Unexpected Virtue of Doubting democracychallenged.com/2026/04/24/t...

democracychallenged.comThe Unexpected Virtue of DoubtingUnderstanding how individuals shape their preferences and opinions is central to understanding how habits turn into political preferences, and political preferences into votes. In our project, we s…
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

Ireland’s Profits Look Extraordinary — But It’s the Balance Sheet, Not the Real Economy, Doing the Work democracychallenged.com/2025/12/05/i...

democracychallenged.comIreland’s Profits Look Extraordinary — But It’s the Balance Sheet, Not the Real Economy, Doing the WorkProfit shares are supposed to tell a simple story: when a business produces something, how much of the value created ends up as profit rather than wages? It’s a basic income-distribution measure, c…

Democracy Challenged reposted

SASE | The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics
@sasemeeting.bsky.social

Is the National Economy Too Small to Study? Regan and Blyth argue that Growth Model research in Comparative Political Economy is ontologically biased towards the national level.Their solution? Zoom in on the city-regional level. Full article: doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwaf003 #SER @OxfordJournals

doi.orgThere is more to national economies than the national economy: extending the Growth Model research programme in comparative political economyAbstract. This article argues that the Growth Model (GM) research programme in comparative political economy has an ontological and methodological bias tow
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

The '25 #Nobel in #Economics: Innovation drives growth through creative destruction. Today, #innovation seems less about destroying the old - and more about accumulating power within the same firms. tinyurl.com/4v8hftjr

tinyurl.comFrom Creative Destruction to Winner Takes All – A Commentary on the Nobel Prize and the Role of the State in InnovationEarlier this week, Philippe Aghion, together with Joel Mokyr and Peter Howitt, won the Nobel prize in economics. In their research, the laureates show that growth results almost entirely from techn…
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

Why taxing corporate profits isn’t just about revenue — it’s about counter-power. Think of it as antitrust by other means: clipping the wings of monopolies before their rents harden into dynastic wealth and political dominance. democracychallenged.com/2025/09/22/t...

democracychallenged.comTax as Antitrust: Why Corporate Profit Taxation Is the Real Wealth TaxDebates about inequality often revolve around wealth taxes. The argument runs that if the top 1% hoard an ever-larger share of global wealth, then the way to fund a social state is to skim a portio…
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

The era of #tax arbitrage has narrowed. #Tariffs and rules of origin are now doing the work of industrial policy. For #Ireland, the challenge is ensuring its #pharma sector remains more than a paper hub in the eyes of both #Washington and the #OECD. democracychallenged.com/2025/08/29/w...

democracychallenged.comWhy the EU–US Trade Truce Puts Ireland’s Pharma Model at RiskThe EU–US trade truce leaves generics untouched but puts branded drugs—the core of Ireland’s export engine—at risk, with multinationals ready to shift production and tweak transfer pricing to prote…
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

The age of neoliberal hands-off economics is giving way to state-led tech geopolitics. Silicon Sovereignty: Industrial Policy and the Post-Neoliberal Turn democracychallenged.com/2025/08/28/s...

democracychallenged.comSilicon Sovereignty: Industrial Policy and the Post-Neoliberal TurnThe age of neoliberal hands-off economics is giving way to state-led tech geopolitics. For decades, neoliberal orthodoxy insisted that governments should stay out of the business of building indust…
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

Corporate profits in the US are more concentrated than ever. These figures (see in the blog post) show a structural shift: competition is giving way to #oligopoly #capitalism. What does this mean for policy, #taxation, and #democracy? democracychallenged.com/2025/07/24/w...

democracychallenged.comWinner Takes All: How the Top 1% of Firms Capture the ProfitsThe US corporate landscape has morphed into a winner-takes-all economy, where a handful of multinational firms control the lion’s share of profits and market power. The data is stark. Across all US…
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

We are very happy that our project got added to @dri.ie. Browse our repository here: repository.dri.ie/catalog/0v83... Read the DRI's post about us: tinyurl.com/3fhs6pwv

tinyurl.comNew collection in DRI - Democracy Challenged - Digital Repository of IrelandThe Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) is proud to announce the addition of the Democracy Challenged blog series to its ever-growing archive of socially significant collections. This collection, prod...
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

Reminder: Today at 4pm CET (3pm Irish time) @aidanregan.bsky.social will moderate this virtual session for the 2025 @sasemeeting.bsky.social conference.

Virginia Doellgast@vdoellgast.bsky.social

@sasemeeting.bsky.social featured (virtual) panel with Michèle Lamont and Wolfgang Streeck - moderated by @aidanregan.bsky.social. Democracy after globalism: States, social movements, and recognition claims. 10:00-11:30 EDT/ 16-17:30 CET - Wed, 2 July virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/event/37937/...

Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

Jeff #Bezos is throwing a $40M wedding—but the real story is how #Amazon made $3.6T (2014–2024) and paid just 9% U.S. #tax on $197B profit. IP tricks, transfer pricing, and tax laws made him rich - and let him stay that way. tinyurl.com/yw7f6xef

democracychallenged.comVenetian Billionaire: How Amazon Built the Empire That Made Jeff Bezos one of World’s Richest MenAs the world’s richest guests descend on Venice for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s lavish wedding, the scene is already drawing protest. And rightly so. Behind the €40 million party, the security …
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

Save the date! @aidanregan.bsky.social will moderate a round table discussion at this year's @sasemeeting.bsky.social conference. Participation is possible online.

Virginia Doellgast@vdoellgast.bsky.social

@sasemeeting.bsky.social featured (virtual) panel with Michèle Lamont and Wolfgang Streeck - moderated by @aidanregan.bsky.social. Democracy after globalism: States, social movements, and recognition claims. 10:00-11:30 EDT/ 16-17:30 CET - Wed, 2 July virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/event/37937/...

Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

Repost due to typo: The pharma industry is a cornerstone of EU-US trade — and Ireland plays a key role at the heart of it. 🇪🇺🇺🇸💊🇮🇪 Vanishing Act: Strip Out Pharma and Ireland, and Over 40% of the EU’s U.S. Trade Surplus Disappears democracychallenged.com/2025/05/29/v... #Trade #Pharma #Ireland

democracychallenged.comVanishing Act: Strip Out Pharma and Ireland, and Over 40% of the EU’s U.S. Trade Surplus DisappearsThe transatlantic trade relationship is often framed in terms of a stark imbalance: in 2024, the European Union ran a €198.2 billion goods trade surplus with the United States. On the surface, this…
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

We’ve written a lot about intangible assets in our case studies. Time to step back and ask: what makes intangibles special - and how are they reshaping modern capitalism? A Primer on Intangible Capital - What’s There to Know? @linusze.bsky.social democracychallenged.com/2025/05/26/a...

democracychallenged.comA Primer on Intangible Capital – What’s There to Know?with Aidan Regan In recent weeks, we’ve repeatedly discussed intangible assets and their role in the complex tax strategies of multijurisdictional corporate groups (MJGs). Intangibles were central …
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

From Brave New World to #Apple vs. #Brussels: How Media Fragmentation Shapes Our Reality New blog post by Oscar Barrera-Rodríguez, Lakshmi Menon and @aidanregan.bsky.social. They unpack the reactions sparked by last year’s landmark #tax ruling. democracychallenged.com/2025/05/13/f...

democracychallenged.comFrom Brave New World to Apple vs. Brussels: How Media Fragmentation Shapes Our Realitywith Lakshmi Menon and Aidan Regan What happens when one tax ruling sparks six national narratives? From Orwell’s censorship to Huxley’s information overload, Apple’s €13B showdow…
Democracy Challenged
@democracychall.bsky.social

Check out the article our team's Oscar Barrera-Rodríguez recently published in the European Journal of Political Economy. "Capital vs. labour: The effect of income sources on attitudes toward the top 1 percent" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #EJPE #politicaleconomy #inequality

sciencedirect.comCapital vs. labour: The effect of income sources on attitudes toward the top 1 percentWe conduct a randomized online survey to study how information on the share of top earners' income derived from capital and labour affects attitudes t…