Austerity
Anna McKie: Employers refuse to back down on eve of UK university strikes
So, here we go again. Higher education is not a commodity. Nor are its workers. Read here
Month: February 2020
Corruption
Claire Jones: The World Bank paper at the centre of a controversy
When corruption sets in, the fish rots from the head: in this case recent actions of the World Bank carry a whiff of something not quite right! Read here
Austerity
Emma Clancy – Discipline and Punish: End of the Road for the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact?
The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), first enacted in 1997, has proven to be one of the most contested and controversial features of the Economic and Monetary Union, and the broader European Union (EU). Emma […]
Climate Crisis
Reuters: Investors welcome Poland’s decision to freeze last coal-fueled plant project
Shares in Polish state-run utilities Energa and Enea gained on Friday after they froze financing of their joint project to build 1 a GW coal-fueled power unit, citing difficulties raising funds due to environmental concerns. […]
Economics
Paul Romer: The Dismal Kingdom – Do Economists Have Too Much Power?
Paul Romer, Nobel winner and former World Bank chief economist, has written a fascinating book review about the influence of the economics profession: “economists opened the door to economic ideologues who lacked any commitment to […]
Economics
Bill Mitchell: Fiscal stimulus disappears into saving – solution – bigger stimulus was needed in the first place
Wasn’t there once something called “demand side economics”? Read here
Economics
Ndongo Samba Sylla, Peter Doyle – Abolish Africa’s Sovereign Debtors’ Prisons Now
In a radical call for reform of the IMF’s pro-creditor and anti-growth approach to indebted countries in Africa, Ndongo Sylla and Peter Doyle argue that the continent has a choice to make. Creditors, using the […]
Economics
Branko Milanović – Historical Wealth: How to Compare Croesus and Bezos
Wealth has to be measured with a yardstick belonging to the same time when that wealth exists: labour power Branko Milanović is an economist specialised in development and inequality. His newest book is “Capitalism, Alone: […]
EU politics
Interview with Gonzalo Boyé – Spain: “The EU Cannot Overlook the Intimidation of Lawyers Defending Political Opponents in Spain”
Oh yes the EU can. And the EU will. The EU’s greatest enemy is democracy, especially the national state that embodies this. Citizens’ rights are the greatest threat to EU authority, just ask Xi Jinping. […]
Climate Crisis
Zack Walsh – Breakdown or breakthrough? Degrowth and the Great Transition
We have already surpassed the known limits to growth, so degrowth is our only option. Zack Walsh is a Research Associate at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. He co-leads the […]