Iceland's eurosceptic president re-elected
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Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was re-elected as president of Iceland on Saturday for the fifth term but he has been in office since 1996. He got more than half the votes or almost 53 percent. Grímsson was one of six candidates running for the presidency.
The Closer
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ROUND-UPA bad ISM is good for Fed easing, US stocks seemed to say on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.25 per cent to 1,365.51 while the Nasdaq closed up at 2,951.23, a 0.55 per cent gain,...
Breaking Borders for free expression
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Today in Nairobi, at the biannual Global Voices Citizen Media summit, Google and the group Global Voices announced the winners of the 2nd Breaking Borders Award. The award honors people who, in the view of Global Voices, are making a difference in th...
Zukunftsstrom für Europa: Welches Potential haben erneuerbare Energien?
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Eine große Lobby aus Atom- und Kohlestromproduzenten behauptet weiterhin, dass eine vollständige Umstellung auf erneuerbare Energien in Europa nicht möglich sei. Viele Wissenschaftler kommen zu einem anderen Schluss: Es bedarf ihrer Meinung nach d...
Euro Collapse: What Is the Real Risk?
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The media would like us to believe that the Euro-zone is in the hands of Germany.It certainly looks that way.Twice in the course of a month, Frau Merkel pulled her weight and got what she wanted from everyone in the EU. It happened first, at the end...
Black Friday or Black Monday?: Two days of decisions on the unitary patent
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The AmeriKat enjoying the 40th strawberry of the day. . . On Friday, when the AmeriKat was uniquely not in front of a computer and also prohibited from using her phone, it seemed that everything was happening on the unitary patent front. After enjo...
Gala dinner hosted by the Swedish Ministry of Rural Affairs
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This evening the Swedish Ministry of Rural Affairs hosted a gala dinner in honour of the EESC’s President and members. My neighbour (to my right in the picture) was Charlotta Eriksson, who is the spokesperson for Eskil Erlandson (Centre Party),...
From Libor to Liebor: poll says just 10% trust bankers to tell the truth
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Surprise, surprise: everyone thinks that bankers are liars. A ComRes poll commissioned for ITV News at Ten in the wake of the Libor scandal has revealed that bankers are the least trusted profession — coming below even politicians when it comes...
Conservative Change in the Euro Zone
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There are hurdles to be taken before the decisions are definitive, but EU government leaders made decisions this week that set the course for the future of the euro zone. Austerity has won a host of demands that lock in debt repayments from Eur...
Peak Denial
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"The Peak Oil debate is not a sporting event. What matters is not which side wins, but what reality awaits us. Will we see a continuing plateau in global crude oil production? How long will it last? How big a proportional contribution to total li...
EU referendum: who will benefit from first-mover advantage?
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Matters are a bit clearer following the Prime Minister's statement to the House of Commons. Some things were stated plainly, others could be inferred from the body language. Here, for what it's worth, are my conclusions. First, David Cameron plans t...
Unanimity is not essential to cutting the ‘Gordian debt’: our letter to the FT as published today
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The other day I posted a letter that Stuart Holland and I sent to the Financial Times. Today it was published. Click here for the FT or… From Prof Stuart Holland and Prof Yanis Varoufakis. Sir, The crisis-fighting measures agreed in Brussels ...
Unanimity is not essential to cutting the ‘Gordian debt’: our letter to the FT as published today
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The other day I posted a letter that Stuart Holland and I sent to the Financial Times. Today it was published. Click here for the FT or… From Prof Stuart Holland and Prof Yanis Varoufakis. Sir, The crisis-fighting measures agreed in Brussels ...
More on GS and the relevance of safe assets
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Izzy already did a great job giving the house sentiment about the dismissive Goldman Sachs note on safe assets, but we wanted to add a few quick points.This isn’t just...
Eurozone poker – Monti calls Merkel’s bluff
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At last week’s EU summit, Mr Monti refused to agree to anything until Germany made a key concession. He wanted the bailout monies for the Spanish banking system not to be structured as debt of the Spanish government. In the end, Mrs Merkel gave i...
FMD global strategy to improve living conditions
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A new global strategy is to benefit farmers and consumers. The plan, which has been endorsed representatives from more than 100 countries and international donors at a 3-day conference on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Bangkok, will help contro...
European Council reaffirms its determination to fulfill ODA commitments
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Following the latest meeting of the European Council, member states’ representatives welcomed the second annual report on European Union Official Development Assistance and reaffirmed its commitment to achieve development assistance targets by 2...
Auditors urge tighter quality-control for organic foods
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According to the latest conclusions of the European Court of Auditors, consumers who are willing to pay extra for organic fruits, vegetables and other goods may not always get what they are hoped for due to lax oversight in some EU countries. Th...
The future of wind turbine maker Vestas hangs in the balance
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The future of Danish Vestas, the world´s largest wind turbine manufacturer, hangs in the balance: Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS) fell the most in four weeks after a report that the turbine maker is in talks with two banks about restructurin...
A Stockholm evening stroll
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There was just enough time after the end of the enlarged Presidency meeting and before the beginning of our formal dinner for a quick stroll and to taste some beer. We found a friendly place on the Riksgatan, quite close to the Royal Palace where, as...
How to sound contrite (as a potential kid poisoner)
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There’s a lesson here for Bob and others in banking bother. It comes from Andrew Witty, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, after paying $3bn to settle the largest ever case...
Prince Charles billed taxpayer £20,000 for trip to … London!
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London resident Prince Charles incurred expenses of £20,000 to visit poverty-stricken areas of the capital hit by the riots last summer, official documents have revealed. Charles and Camilla flew down from Aberdeen to London and back using a luxurio...
Paul Krugman Calls it Europe’s Great Illusion: Are Inflation and Monetary Devaluation via Increased Spending the Only Real Solutions?
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Paul Krugman's most recent piece at the New York Times is Europe’s Great Illusion, writing inter alia in the aftermath of the recent -- in our eyes "relatively successful" -- Eurozone summit meeting: "Over the past few months I’ve read a number...
Syriza on Europe: to exit or not to exit?
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“Put simply, for those of us outside the eurozone, far from there being too little Europe, there is too much of it. Too much cost; too much bureaucracy; too much meddling in issues that belong to nation states or civic society or individuals. ...
