The Closer
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ROUND-UPStocks snoozed into the close. The S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent to 1,405.42 (Bloomberg). But the S&P Growth Index hit a record high on Wednesday, after rising 13...
No grain, no pain
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A couple of charts from Barclays economists showing the relative contribution of food to headline and core CPI:The economists make the point that a rise in food prices brought...
Unlocked handcuffs
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The above figure, from a fascinating new IMF Working Paper on sovereign debt restructuring, shows the breakdown of recent EU country public bond issuance by the governing law of the bond contract. Economics has various concepts of the usefulness of &...
Fifty Shades of Green
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(Guest post from Pink Prosecco) The Green Party held out against the whole concept of leadership until 2008, when Caroline Lucas was elected with an overwhelming majority, but seems now to have adjusted to the idea, as four candidates have put themse...
Future of European Integration: Team EU at the Olympics?
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Twitter account @EU_London2012 (now @EU_sports_team) was counting the gold medals for the EU. Of course, there was no Team EU at the Olympics, but I find it interesting. Questions: 1. Can you imagine the situation when the citizens of the EU from...
Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad
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In February, US President Barack Obama declared the fall of his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad ‘is not going to be a matter of “if”; it’s going to be a matter of “when”.’ Six months later, Assad is still...
All in (centrist) moderation?
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Some say that the political center has no ideology. Well, for one, "all in moderation" is a key centrist philosophy, made in Ancient Greece. Moderation, or if you prefer, a balance, between individualism (as opposed to the libertarians) and collecti...
Remembering the 1948 London Olympics
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As a successful 2012 Olympics winds to a close, it may be worthwhile remembering that London’s path to hosting the world’s most important sports event was not a smooth one.
Remembering the 1948 London Olympics
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If anything, the Olympics teach us resilience, that we can fall down and get back up, that regardless of the obstacles we can finish the race. It’s an idealistic view that the 1948 Olympics captured perfectly.
Russia: The Ugly Side of Olympic Nationalism
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Olympic gold medal wins by Russian ethnic minorities have angered Russian nationalists.
More good news. Now what?
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It is less than a month away from the next FOMC meeting (September 12-13), and Bernanke’s speech at Jackson Hole speech is at the end of August.Check this week’s...
Whatever the butler's role, the Vatican has questions to answer | Catherine Pepinster
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What Catholics need to see now is an investigation into the truth of allegations in documents allegedly leaked by Paolo GabrieleIt has all the makings of a Hollywood adaptation of a Dan Brown novel. Secrets of the Vatican exposed, documents stolen fr...
What if?
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Today we drove (through five European countries on our way) to Italy, including through the original Switzerland, and so had the time to talk through some of our conclusions from that coast-to-coast trip. It’s a cliché, but the country is st...
Ukraine’s Morality Police Probe ‘Gay’ SpongeBob
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The dangerous perversions of Disney and SpongeBob SquarePants may soon no longer afflict Ukraine’s impressionable children.
Amiens riots: a police crackdown is not the answer to violence in the banlieues | Matthew Moran
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Hollande is tackling the riots with more security, but police can be part of solution only if police-public relations changeFor the past two nights, the suburbs of Amiens in northern France have been the scene of violent clashes between police and lo...
Syria descending into 'war of attrition'
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It has similarities with other Arab spring uprisings, but what sets Syria apart – in addition to the stance of China and Russia – is its mosaic of various religions, sects and ethnic groups and the risk that the country will fragment with dire co...
Conservatives are getting very rattled about UKIP.
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So Daniel Hannan, the Conservative Party's only anti-EU MEP, wants an electoral pact with UKIP at the next General Election. This is significant. It demonstrates the increasing popularity of UKIP and the likely impact it will have at the next Genera...
Summer reading
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While many legal institutions are taking a Summer break, news on legislative processes and case law is somewhat scarce. Those of you (back or still) at work looking for some reading materials related to consumer issues may therefore take the opportun...
6 reasons for mixing politics with spatial planning and development
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Politics – one of the reasons the world goes round, or is it just a result of the world going round? Not really an easy question. One thing that anyone agrees upon though, is that politics (good or bad, doesn’t really matter) can make or brak...
6 reasons for mixing politics with spatial planning and development
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Politics – one of the reasons the world goes round, or is it just a result of the world going round? Not really an easy question. One thing that anyone agrees upon though, is that politics (good or bad, doesn’t really matter) can make or brak...
It’s the capital requirements, stupid
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Banks are lending neither to each other, nor to the real economy, in the way they used to. In Europe in particular, loan growth remains subdued. In the UK, there’s a lot...
Lega Nord steps anti-Euro rhetoric up by another notch
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Italian Lega Nord party's opposition to the euro is clearly not limited to two nostalgic MPs organising a rally where the Italian lira is used as the official currency. Call it political opportunity, but since Lega Nord is no longer in government, it...
Be informed
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Have you ever been disappointed by shops in another country closing at an earlier time than you thought? Or have you perhaps been pleasantly surprised by sales being held at a different time than you expected? In order to provide consumers with some...
Hungarians Oppose Orban’s Planned Electoral Changes
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An overwhelming majority of Hungarians oppose changes proposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban to the way voters are registered for elections, a survey conducted by pollster Nezopont Intezet showed.
Credit-Market Insiders Fret at ‘Apathy’ Before Autumn
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European companies have enjoyed a funding lifeline in recent weeks as the region's credit markets have proven surprisingly robust, but market watchers warn this could quickly unravel unless policy makers deliver on their promises of support for gover...
US Markets Live transcript 15 Aug 2012
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Markets Live chat transcript for the chat ending at 14:57 on 15 Aug 2012. Participants in this chat were: Joseph Cotterill, FT Cardiff Garcia JC Hello, and welcome to US Markets Live....
Mario Monti’s comments on national parliaments reflect the European technocracy’s desire to use the debt crisis as an opportunity to force through further neo-liberal policies.
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This month has seen European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, make pronouncements about the future of the Eurozone and their desire to save it. Antonio Lettieri argues that these statements in support of fur...
Searching for common ground on a European banking union
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With the EC set to outline its proposals for a European banking union in less than a month’s time, leaked documents detailing the initial discussions indicate differences...
The EU competitiveness challenge – from track & field to the economy
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The Olympic medal table has received intense attention from Britain over the last few weeks. I’m sure this was the case across Europe too – with half of the top ten places in the table awarded to European countries; as Simon Kuper in the FT comme...
Operation Transparency Bulletin #3
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The following newsletter presents a summary of the most important events regarding the electoral topic during the third and fourth week of July (Monday 16th – Sunday 29th). 1. National Broadcasts The monitoring group of Andrés Bello Catholic Unive...
US Markets Live! 10am New York, London 3pm
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Yep — London’s AWOL, but the New York wing of FT Alphaville presses on with Markets Live. We’ll be on at our usual time of 10am New York, 3pm London, talking Standard Chartered,...
Vladislav Surkov – Doctor Spin of Pussy Riot scandal ?
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According to a statement posted on the website of the Moscow government, Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov was appointed as curator also on the relationship of authorities with religious organizations. In fact, he was returned to a task which...
France: Stories of Everyday Sexism
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After being harassed and insulted by men in the streets of Brussels, Belgian student Sofie Peeters made a hidden-camera film to denounce the male chauvinism experienced every day by unaccompanied women in the streets. Under the hashtag #harcelementde...
Social Competence - E-Learning - Human Rights Education
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A new study dealing with the question if social competences can be taught via e-learning has just been published. Human rights education is used as example:Sandra Reitz: Improving Social Competence via E-Learning? The Example of Human Rights Educatio...
Greek Shipping Gets a Free Ride
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European countries provide Greece with tens of billions of euros in aid, yet accept that the cash-strapped country cannot for the moment collect tax receipts from its large shipping industry because of the low tax regimes across the Continent, writes...
