I took both my degrees from Liverpool University: a BA in German Studies and a PhD on the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. My primary areas of research are the political economy of Germany and the European Union, notably in the fields of taxation policy and monetary policy. My teaching duties at Loughborough have included modern German history, German and European political economy, German foreign relations, as well as German language. I was managing editor of the Journal of Contemporary European Studies for 21 years up until 2014, and a contributing consultant to Oxford Analytica since 1996. I was also co-editor of Debatte – Review of Contemporary German Affairs from 1993 to 2003 and remain a member of the editorial board of the journal under its new name: Review of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. I am an active member of the EuroMemo Group of Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe and of the UK Tax Justice Network. I share a strong conviction with colleagues in the Department concerning the virtues of interdisciplinarity and integrated area studies as features of rigorous scholarship in the social sciences. I am currently involved with a pan-European interdisciplinary research project, entitled ReInvest, investigating issues surrounding social investment and the elimination of social exclusion which is funded by a €2.5 million Horizon2020 grant.
The specific focus of my current research is macro-economic policy in Europe, with particular reference to taxation reforms at national and regional level, but also to crisis management since 2007. Apart from journal articles and book chapters, I have produced a single-authored book on Germany’s political economy since 1982, two edited books – on Youth in Contemporary Europeand The Political Economy of Tax Justice – and edited a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary European Studies on Crisis Management in Europe. I am currently completing a monograph on The Political Economy of European Taxation: The Lessons of Failure. I have collaborated with scholars in several European countries in comparative studies of family policy, social policy and, most recently, the intergenerational transmission of inequality, all funded by EU research grants. My future research plans include a study of hegemonic economic relations in modern Europe, an analysis of growth delusions in economic policy and an examination of the political economy of public goods in Europe.
In the academic year 2012-2013, I will be responsible examiner for two final year options – Germany in Europe and The EU and the Global Political Economy – co-ordinator of the Second Year Research Design module and responsible examiner for the post-graduate module, The EU and the Global Political Economy. I will also contribute to both the First Year module, The Contemporary World Arena, and the Second Year module, Debates and Developments in International Relations Theory, along with two modules in German language.
Selected publications
- Dymarski, W, Frangakis, M, Leaman, J (ed) (2014) The Deepening Crisis of the European Union: The Case for Radical Change, Poznan University of Economics Press, ISBN: 978-83-7417-789-4. Full text: http://www.wydawnictwo-ue.pl/ .
- Eißel, D, Rokicka, E, Leaman, J (ed) (2014) Welfare State at Risk: Rising Inequality in Europe, Springer, ISBN: 978-3-319-01480-7. Full text: http://www.springer.com/. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-01481-4.
- Leaman, J (2015) Ending a Fatal Addiction: Re-Regulating Europe’s Financial Markets, in: Debruyne, Michel (ed.) The Market: Friend or Foe, Brussels (Alliances to Fight Poverty). In The Market: Friend or Foe, pp.89-144.
- Leaman, J (2014) Reversing the Neoliberal Deformation of Europe. In Fossum, JE and Mendenez, A (ed) The European Union in Crises or the European Union as Crises, ARENA, pp.43-91, ISBN: 978-82-93137-46-7.
- Leaman, J (2014) The Preconditions for Reducing Social Inequality in Europe. In Dymarski, W and Frangakis, M (ed) The Deepening Crisis of the European Union: The Case for Radical Change, Poznan University of Economics Press, pp.211-234, ISBN: 978-83-7417-789-4.
- Leaman, J (2014) Market Distribution, Fiscal Distribution and Inequality: A Case Study of Britain. In Eissel, D and Rokicka, E (ed) Welfare State at Risk: Rising Inequality in Europe, Springer, pp.81-103, ISBN: 978-3-319-01480-7.
- Bartl, M, Leaman, J, Becker, J, Bellofiore, R (2015) What future for the European Union – Stagnation and polarisation or new foundations? – EuroMemorandum 2015, EuroMemo Group of Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe.
- Dellheim, J, Evans, T, Grahl, J, Leaman, J, Messkoub, M, Pianta, M (2014) The deepening divisions in Europe and the need for a radical alternative to EU policies – EuroMemorandum 2014, EuroMemo Group of Economists for an Alternative Economic Policy in Europe.