Latest posts
Bucharest's blues
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Romania has become the latest EU country to see its government collapse in the face of planned austerity measures. Isn't it time to think again, asks Jason Walsh. Following Greece and Italy, both of which have seen governments tumble and be replaced...
Europe's lurch backward
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Borne of failure and fear, the EU moves toward political union not in strength, but in weakness. The latest proposed treaty for a "fiscal compact" continues this inglorious tradition, says Jason Walsh And so, 25 European countries will now...
Europe's lurch backward
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Borne of failure and fear, the EU moves toward political union not in strength, but in weakness. The latest proposed treaty for a "fiscal compact" continues this inglorious tradition, says Jason Walsh And so, 25 European countries will now...
Taxing times for Sarkozy
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France's planned introduction of a "Tobin tax" has broken a practical taboo, but will it help or hamper economic growth, asks Jason Walsh. Speaking on television on Sunday night, French president Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to introduce...
Immaterial world
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Kodak's filing for bankruptcy protection should give us pause for thought when it comes to our brave, new online world, says Jason Walsh. Peering into the metaphorical crystal ball for 2012 – in reality looking back over the trends of the la...
Solvency, not lack of liquidity, is driving Europe down
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The S&P downgrade merely reflects European leaders' failure to regain solvency, says Constantin Gurdgiev. "In economics, things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could," as...
Careful what you plan for
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The austerity orthodoxy is working all too well when it comes to driving down living standards, says Simon McGarr, and European leaders need to stop inducing economic depression. Remember when Ireland nearly went bust because we couldn&rsq...
EU - a laboratory of democracy?
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Despite the depth of the crisis, Ireland remains positively disposed to the European Union. Rather than just becoming a focus for anti-EU sentiment, its culture of referendums means that the electorate is keenly aware of issues affecting the union, s...
Politics leaves the EU
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Britain standing outside Europe is a failure for the EU more than it is for Britain, says Jason Walsh. The British government has undoubtedly taken a tentative step away from the EU, but in doing so it has accidentally stood up for democracy &ndash...
By what authority are you saying that?
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The crisis of authority is of our own making – and it's getting out of hand, accelerated by our "network society", says Jason Walsh. These days I don't much like criticising journalism, certainly not individual journalists at any ra...
It's Greece versus Rome, and Rome rules
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We need to take the role of active citizenship more seriously, argues philosopher Stephen Rainey. Being a citizen in ancient Greece meant taking part in matters of the city. This meant proposing, debating, opposing, supporting measures or initiatives...
Can Van Rompuy bypass a referendum?
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Herman Van Rompuy wants to avoid a referendum on treaty change. Can he do it? With European leaders proposing a new treaty to shore up the euro by moving toward fiscal union, storm clouds are already gathering on the horizon. British prime minis...
The weakness of the European Council
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As Europe’s financial and economic catastrophe morphs into a full-scale constitutional crisis, where is leadership to be found, asks Ben Tonra. Two landmark interventions; that of the German philosopher Jurgen Habermas and that of Polish...
Mad or just bad, Breivik is not a harbinger of things to come
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Mass-murderer Anders Breivik may or may not be insane, but his actions do not indicate a radical right on the rise, says Jason Walsh. Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bomb blast and gun rampage on July 22, has been declared crim...
Technocracy has been here all along
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Want to escape technocracy? Start listening to generalist thinkers, not just financiers and economists, says philosopher Stephen Rainey. Recently, as it is hard to ignore, economic matters have come to dominate the headlines in unprecedented ways, an...
Press delete
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The news media is supposed to serve the public, but recent episodes indicate we spend too much time listening to those who shout loudest. Earlier this month a row erupted when a series of high profile women writers claimed&nb...
Don't invest too much in bank-bashing
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Banks acted stupidly, but the fashion for denigrating finance is going too far. As the interlocking financial and political crises in the eurozone and Occupy movement continue to make headlines – and fill comment pages – around the wo...
Don't invest too much in bank-bashing
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Banks acted stupidly, but the fashion for denigrating finance is going too far. As the interlocking financial and political crises in the eurozone and Occupy movement continue to make headlines – and fill comment pages – around the wo...
The insolvent household called Europe
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We must rethink Europe's economy now, or else it faces oblivion. Not a week goes by without European leaders unveiling new, by-now ritualistic, plans to deal with the crisis that has engulfed the entire eurozone, issuing endless and largely meaningl...
Towards an open collaborative EU
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Despite fears of technocratic rule, new models of collaboration could lead to a more pluralist Europe. The idea that Europe is experiencing a democracy deficit is becoming commonplace. 'Technocratic' rule, implemented due to emergency condition...
