On September 2, in a village outside Chișinău, Moldova, a young woman, known to her associates as Ana Nastas, handed out a stack of anti-EU leaflets rife with misinformation that had been produced by Ilan Shor, a Russophilic Moldovan oligarch and p...
Ireland is your favorite multinational corporation’s favorite country. Why? Over the last 25 years, the country has molded itself into a leading corporate tax haven, shielding businesses with subsidiaries in Ireland from worldwide taxation. Drawing...
As tragic as it might be to lose the ability to subtly flirt by asking someone for a lighter in the smoking section of a club, one would think that the vast majority of English citizens understand the necessity of reducing tobacco consumption. If not...
In reading the New York Times yesterday, it struck me that following the news about Syria is becoming almost unbearably frustrating. More and more are dying, and there still doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Instead, we are treated to an endl...
In reading the New York Times yesterday, it struck me that following the news about Syria is becoming almost unbearably frustrating. More and more are dying, and there still doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Instead, we are treated to an endl...
There is a famous Spanish saying, éramos muchos y parió la abuela –we were too many, and then grandma had a baby. In military jargon this is summarized as a clusterfuck: a situation in which everything, everywhere, falls apart at the same time. A...
There is a famous Spanish saying, éramos muchos y parió la abuela –we were too many, and then grandma had a baby. In military jargon this is summarized as a clusterfuck: a situation in which everything, everywhere, falls apart at the same time. A...
Fears of ‘Grexit’ has yet to wane, but the press is talking about another country’s possible retreat from the EU—Britain. The Economist claims that ‘Brexit’ has become “increasingly possible;” a columnist at Reuters even warns, “Bre...
Fears of ‘Grexit’ has yet to wane, but the press is talking about another country’s possible retreat from the EU—Britain. The Economist claims that ‘Brexit’ has become “increasingly possible;” a columnist at Reuters even warns, “Bre...
New euro Bills are set to enter circulation in May 2013. Instead of the now familiar imaginary architecture, these bills will feature “a hologram and watermark of Europa, the Phoenician noblewoman who gave the continent its name. In Greek myth, she...
New euro Bills are set to enter circulation in May 2013. Instead of the now familiar imaginary architecture, these bills will feature “a hologram and watermark of Europa, the Phoenician noblewoman who gave the continent its name. In Greek myth, she...
I was hoping to stop writing on austerity and switch to nationalism and the extreme right in Europe. However, France’s recognition of the Syrian National Council (SNC) as the sole representative of the Syrian state/people has forced me to take a Mi...
I was hoping to stop writing on austerity and switch to nationalism and the extreme right in Europe. However, France’s recognition of the Syrian National Council (SNC) as the sole representative of the Syrian state/people has forced me to take a Mi...
If Tuesday’s elections represented the triumph of liberalism in the US, no similar trend is to be found in Europe. Far from capitalizing -irony intended- on a crisis brought upon by markets-turned-casinos, the center left in Europe has systematical...
If Tuesday’s elections represented the triumph of liberalism in the US, no similar trend is to be found in Europe. Far from capitalizing -irony intended- on a crisis brought upon by markets-turned-casinos, the center left in Europe has systematical...
In my last eurocrisis rant I argued three changes were necessary for the EU to begin crawling its way out of the hole it has dug itself into. These were viewing debt as an economic instead of a moral problem, considering the situation a political ins...
In my last eurocrisis rant I argued three changes were necessary for the EU to begin crawling its way out of the hole it has dug itself into. These were viewing debt as an economic instead of a moral problem, considering the situation a political ins...
Yesterday, the French government signed a deal to provide Peugeot-Citroën, Europe’s second largest automaker, with €7 billion (or $9 billion) in credit guarantees. This is yet another example of government intervention in industrial sectors stru...
Yesterday, the French government signed a deal to provide Peugeot-Citroën, Europe’s second largest automaker, with €7 billion (or $9 billion) in credit guarantees. This is yet another example of government intervention in industrial sectors stru...
Europe has not experienced a major war in the last six decades. Today a European civil war, with the ensuing international spillover, is simply unthinkable. That we take this for granted is extraordinary, given that for centuries Europeans have been ...
Europe has not experienced a major war in the last six decades. Today a European civil war, with the ensuing international spillover, is simply unthinkable. That we take this for granted is extraordinary, given that for centuries Europeans have been ...
Last week, Spain introduced an additional €40bn austerity policy in face continuing recession, unemployment, and violent separatist cries of the Catalonia and Basque region. One should not forget, however, that Spain’s public debt, which hovers a...
Last week, Spain introduced an additional €40bn austerity policy in face continuing recession, unemployment, and violent separatist cries of the Catalonia and Basque region. One should not forget, however, that Spain’s public debt, which hovers a...
My tour of European austerity’s next stop is Germany. However, I have criticized austerity without putting it into context. I have simply assumed it is a bad thing, and avoided entering a discussion on what austerity is and does. This is unfair. So...
My tour of European austerity’s next stop is Germany. However, I have criticized austerity without putting it into context. I have simply assumed it is a bad thing, and avoided entering a discussion on what austerity is and does. This is unfair. So...
I’m beginning to think all posts on Europe should fall into the category interesting times, partly in honor of Eric Hobsbawm. Our last piece of interesting news from the past month is the French budget for 2013. François Hollande’s initiation in...
I’m beginning to think all posts on Europe should fall into the category interesting times, partly in honor of Eric Hobsbawm. Our last piece of interesting news from the past month is the French budget for 2013. François Hollande’s initiation in...