Press reports say that Obama will try to convince Hollande to renege on his pledge to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan. If true, Obama would be making a terrible mistake.
Suicide starts to seem a strangely rational measure of life’s cheapness in a monetized society--people’s logical response to a loss of control over their destinies.
The rate of people taking their own lives is soaring in Europe at such a clip that the trend has given birth to a new media term: "Suicide by economic crisis."
Karen Dolan, Institute for Policy Studies. February 14, 2012.
The Obama budget is as much a campaign statement as it is a blueprint for where and how to spend -- or not to spend. And he's letting the 1 percent off easy.
Edward Harrison, Credit Writedowns. February 13, 2012.
As riots rage across Greece, financial blogger Ed Harrison outlines a proposal for the country's exit from an unworkable eurozone and the creation of a New Drachma.
Ian Traynor, Helena Smith, The Guardian. February 12, 2012.
Under a sea of banners denouncing further wage, pension and job cuts, tens of thousands of protesters chanted against "the occupation" of the country by foreign lenders.
Michael Hudson, Michael Hudson's blog. December 19, 2011.
Wages and living standards are to be scaled back and political power shifted from elected government to technocrats governing on behalf of big banks and financial institutions.
The whole future shape of Europe must be resolved in a week or so. It’s a high-stakes game of poker that the Germans are determined to win--at the expense of misery for many.
Berlusconi’s exit –though welcome -- will not solve Italy’s problems. Forced austerity measures are preventing investment in precisely the areas needed for recovery.
An addict-turned-social worker explores the relationship between poverty and addiction, exposing how Medicaid cuts could have disastrous consequences on entire communities.
Katherine Sciacchitano, Dollars and Sense. September 29, 2011.
The crisis caused the deficit (not the other way around), and cutbacks have rendered the ill-fitting stimulus obsolete. Now we need a long-term, comprehensive jobs plan.
