The urge to start this blog came from my struggle to make sense out of our Western society. Working in an European Institution (ECB), I should confess that most of us did not see any of these coming: The Brexit referendum vote to leave the EU, arrival of the Trump administration in the US, rejection of Renzi’s constitutional reforms in Italy and the growing support to the National Front in France. Perhaps we took it all granted while being caught up in our daily businesses.

This blog started from my despair and struggle to challenge the post-truth politics and loopholes in our democracies. Would a vote systematically mean democracy? We are currently destroying the accomplishments of painful fights, in the name of what? How democratic is it to reduce a complex situation to a grotesque “yes or no” question without giving any clarity about its heavy consequences? How legitimate is it to decide in a “yes/no” way to destroy all the progress made in terms of human rights, social inclusion, universal healthcare, environment protection, integration of immigrants, and so on. What about future generations? Will they agree with the economic, humanitarian and environmental cost of all this?

Our society became extremely impatient and short-sighted. To many of us, repeating populist mantra seemed more appealing than digging into facts and figures. The fast-information culture limited our perception to 140 characters. Automatically re-tweeting felt easier than challenging what we were being told. Simply no time to think! Obviously, this ‘reaction society’ was a pure bliss for politicians spreading populism to follow their own agenda.

I created this blog because I still believe that any simple action can make a difference. My blog posts will mostly cover economic matters on which I am supposed to have some ‘expertise’. To avoid falling into blind militancy, I will insist on showing numbers and theory/fact-based evidence. In any case, I will refrain myself from categorising people or dividing them further.

Of course, all this undertaking will only make sense with your engagement. Please share your thoughts and give me feedback.

Hopefully, I will post a new short article every other week. Here are some of the topics that I would like to exchange about:

• What are the ‘true’ economic consequences of Brexit versus what was communicated by politicians?
• Bitcoin and Blockchain: Devil or angel?
• What is economic growth? What sense does it make in terms of inequalities, pollution and better life quality?
• Is immigration bad for the economic performance of the Western world?
• How real is the climate change and how bad is the current situation?
• What do the meat and dairy industries not communicate in terms of environmental damage and animal rights?
• How do Uber and other internet businesses improve the way we work?
• What is the true cost of ‘fast fashion’ industry in terms of pollution and human dignity?