In the 16th century, a tiny village nestled in the valleys of Bohemia known as Jáchymov struck gold—or rather, silver. After a period of crisis in the Bohemian mining industry, the discovery of rich veins of silver exploded across Europe. Th...
“I’m proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth, and that is why, after this newscast, I’m resigning.” Liz Wahl had gone off script. In 2014, the American anchor resigned live on air on Russia Today (RT), a Russian state-f...
Under the cover of night, small boats depart from the Libyan coastline, headed toward sanctuary in Italy. Packed onto rickety vessels and often bought and traded by armed gangs, thousands of migrants and refugees face grueling challenges on the...
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...
I meant to begin with a post on European Structural Funds. Structural Funds and regulation are the stereotypically dull issues European integration used to be about. Brussels bureaucrats bickering over the optimal way of manufacturing and getting rid...
I meant to begin with a post on European Structural Funds. Structural Funds and regulation are the stereotypically dull issues European integration used to be about. Brussels bureaucrats bickering over the optimal way of manufacturing and getting rid...
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, classmate of Sr. Romney, has outdone himself. In what is now a legendarily cavalier portrait of recklessly reductive thinking on the topic of nuclear threat, Bibi holds a graphic poster of a simplistic bomb with...
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, classmate of Sr. Romney, has outdone himself. In what is now a legendarily cavalier portrait of recklessly reductive thinking on the topic of nuclear threat, Bibi holds a graphic poster of a simplistic bomb with...
“The first thing the government does in an election year,” former Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou admitted in 2009, “is to pull the tax collectors off the streets.” I think this statement has a lot to say about Greek debt, and ...
“The first thing the government does in an election year,” former Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou admitted in 2009, “is to pull the tax collectors off the streets.” I think this statement has a lot to say about Greek debt, and ...
September has come and Europe’s politicians are finally in their offices, back from the annual August recess. Back to the rescue. We’re only half way through the month, but so much has been done and said over the past few days. True, European lea...
September has come and Europe’s politicians are finally in their offices, back from the annual August recess. Back to the rescue. We’re only half way through the month, but so much has been done and said over the past few days. True, European lea...