The Way Things Go
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This evening we watched The Way Things Go, a 1987 art film by the Swiss artist duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss. The latter died in April this year, so the viewing had a sort of timeliness. The film is probably the artists’ most famous work.
Is there an NRW effect in the SPD?
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My understanding is the NRW election was mainly a referendum on the non-austerity policy of NRW gov headed by Kraft. And Kraft (NRW SPD) plus the Greens won big, getting some 50% of the vote vs some 35% for CDU and FDP. But did the NRW and other st...
More thoughts on the European Innovation Partnership for Agriculture - by Alan Matthews
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The slowdown in total factor productivity growth in agriculture needs to be reversed, but there continues to be a lack of clarity about the Commission’s proposals and what they will mean in practice.
More thoughts on the European Innovation Partnership for Agriculture - by Alan Matthews
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The slowdown in total factor productivity growth in agriculture needs to be reversed, but there continues to be a lack of clarity about the Commission’s proposals and what they will mean in practice.
405 seats lost in local elections as British voters punish Cameron
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4th May was not a good day for David Cameron, with his Conservative party losing 405 council seats in the mid-parliamentary local elections. Coalition partners the Liberal Democrats hardly fared better, losing 336 seats, as voters expressed their dis...
Hillary Clinton hosted by the Arabs of the Arctic
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One must admire Norway´s socialist Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his government. They manage to make all the politically correct "progressive" noises about global warming and sustainability while at the same working tirelessly to cash in on th...
It gets better for LGBT citizens - or does it?
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This month's document is actually a video: released for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, over 50 EU politicians and leaders from EU institutions have recorded a video message in which they tell LGBT citizens that they are wor...
Europe on the Ground wins Charlemagne Youth Prize 2012
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The Euros would like to extend its congratulations to the Greek youth media project “Europe on the Ground” which won first prize [1] at the 2012 Charlemagne Youth Prize ceremony. Second went to the Czech Republic's”Europe Meets School“and Hun...
Seats ahoy!!!
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The recent local elections in Germany, while proving something of a disaster for Angela Merkel and her CDU party, marked the latest success for one of Europe's Pirate Parties. The German Pirates won 20 seats in the regional elections in Nord-Rhein We...
The German supply-side reforms or will German companies take over the PIIGS ?
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Words heart on German street in 2010 during the first Greek bailouts were that Germany should obtain the Greek islands as collateral if Greece is not able to pay back the debt to Germany. But even today German n-tv is reporting about many Greek re...
The Growth in People Powered 24 News and Breaking News Internet Websites
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There have been similar websites / concepts but these were based on earlier technologies, typically the mobile phone using MMS, they could never provide the comprehensive service now offered by the newer technology Internet news sites.Mobile Phone Te...
If you want to be a game changer ...
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Game changing is a buzz-concept these days. But IMO: If you want to be a game changer, first you need to understand the gameNickPthinks on business, EU policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the world...
The Euro was meant to ....
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The Euro was meant to facilitate the Single Market for goods, services, work, Instead it's been destroying it since almost the start.NickPthinks on business, EU policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the world...
EU: Economic or Social engine?
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Economic & Monetary Union as a prelude to political union seems to have failed. Time to try Social Union as a prelude?NickPthinks on business, EU policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the world...
The No 1 structural reform needed is ...
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The No 1 structural reform needed in the Eurozone and the EU in general is a real EU single market.NickPthinks on business, EU policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the world...
On deadlines
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Some know how to set deadlines. Others know how to meet them (the deadlines)NickPthinks on business, EU policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the world...
Irish Referendum: The Days After
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4 of the 17 Euro member states have by now ratified the Fiscal Compact: Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Ireland. 12 of 17 needed for entry into force. Plus of the 25 EU that signed the Fiscal Compact, The 4 Euro plus Romania, Latvia, Denmark and...
Greece on the brink
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On 6th May, Greeks went to the polls to vote in parliamentary elections, which had been brought forward from October 2013 after the government collapsed in November. The result sent the country, and the rest of Europe, into turmoil. No party gained m...
Over-thinking is ...
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Over-thinking is rarely a problem in business decisions and policy making in 2012. Faulty thinking is.NickPthinks on business, EU policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the world...
The cost of denial
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How many of the EU 27 and Euro 17 are former super and/or colonial powers still in denial of their lost status? What is the effect on the EU and the Euro?NickPthinks on business, EU policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and...
An extraordinary debut for Mr Normal
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On 6th May, France went to the polls in the second round of the Presidential elections, and, as expected, Socialist candidate François Hollande ousted incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, winning just under 52% of the vote. This makes him the first Socialist...
Discover Guimarães and Maribor, the 2012 European capitals of culture
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Europe is rich and diversified by its history and culture. Guimarães, in Portugal, and Maribor, in Slovenia, are two witnesses of this. We invite you to discover these two cities, proud of their past and looking to the future. Guimarães, true token...
Discover Guimarães and Maribor, the 2012 European capitals of culture
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Europe is rich and diversified by its history and culture. Guimarães, in Portugal, and Maribor, in Slovenia, are two witnesses of this. We invite you to discover these two cities, proud of their past and looking to the future. Guimarães, true token...
Check Out the Election Posters of France's Oddball Candidates, Including a Porn Star, a Creepy Ecologist, and a Hoodie-Wearing Rapper
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France 24's Joseph Bamat takes a look at "the oddball candidates trying to spice up the race" for France's parliamentary elections (merci à Hervé), including a lunatic comedian, a James Bond fan, a stripper, a porn star ("Céline Bara, a professi...
Love thy neighbour
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The ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm is a party boat, we were told. Profiting from the toll free zone, people buy tickets only for a few beers on the Baltic Sea. Even more so this night, as Sweden wins the … Continue reading →...
We are all Greeks and Europeans: Greece must stay in the eurozone - EU must integrate further
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A campaign titled "We are all Greeks and Europeans" initially promoted by Mr Nicola Vallinoto (European Federalist Movement - Italy) and Ms Monica Frassoni (European Greens) is now being organized by the European Federalist Party. The Facebook page o...
Beware the wrath of tax-paying Greeks
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Christine Lagarde is paying the media price for some unwisely strident remarks about the plight of Greece. Asking during an interview over the weekend whether she felt any sympathy for ordinary Greeks struggling against the background of deep spendin...
Spanish Wines Have Personality
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Spanish wines have character. The wines of Ribera del Duero, Cigales, Toro, and Bierzo each have their own unique character. This is the direct consequence of each regions' terroir.
An (blatantly) English-speaking Commission?
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Jean Quatremer is in angry and noticed it on his blog. During a European Commission conference on the Eurozone Member States’ economic situation, the “Libération” French permanent correspondent in Belgium and the EU discovered the part concern...
A (blatantly) English-speaking Commission?
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Jean Quatremer is angry and noticed it on his blog. During a European Commission conference on the Eurozone Member States’ economic situation, the “Libération” French permanent correspondent in Belgium and the EU discovered the part concerning...
Quaregnon
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Rather than following the signposts to Le Grand Hornu we followed our own, map-established route, and therefore drove through Jemappes and Quaregnon. This is Le Centre, the heart of the Borinage. The slag heaps may have trees and shrubs growing on t...
MAC’s at Le Grand Hornu
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To the Musée des Arts Contemporains (‘MAC’s) at Le Grand Hornu this afternoon, for the last day of an exhibition curated by the Museum’s Director, Laurent Busine. The exhibition was entitled ‘Le grand Atelier, Ou le Traité d...
Gold Blasts Higher As The US Financial Shares Propell World Stocks Lower As Mario Draghi Relates That The Eurozone Is Unsustainable
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Financial Market Report for the week ending June 1, 2012; this is the ninth week of entry into the Second Great Depression, as reflected by the rise of volatility, TVIX, which accompanied the death of credit beginning in early April 2012. 1) &#...
My new blog on Italy
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Some readers may remember a number of angry, annoyingly righteous and humourless posts I wrote about Italy a few years back. After a couple of people I know and trust told me that the posts were annoyingly righteous and humourless – and made me app...
IMF signals nervousness about Eurozone exposures
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Yesterday, with most of the world already in weekend mode, the IMF website carried a link to an item entitled Fiscal Safeguards. There is no explanatory text with the link. Going into the very brief main document is slightly more … Continue rea...
Dutch fight on Euro Fiscal Pact vote
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While Ireland cast its vote for the EU fiscal pact (or ESM) in a referendum yesterday, the party leader of the Freedom Party in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, raised legal charges against the Dutch government because of their “illegitimate vote”...
Ireland Commits to Battleship EURMANIA Magna. Can Chancellor Merkel Steer the Distressed Vessel to a Safe Haven.
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It was a decisive vote to a fair debate. A rare event in the formation of Superstate. Democracy is not often welcome in the technocratic corridors of EU politics. But we are here now in this place. It is an uncertain but exciting move. Ireland has si...
