Latest posts
Greek Success Story: The latest Orwellian Turn of the Greek Crisis
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Greece’s Prime Minister recently flew to China, to woo Chinese investors. In his bid to be persuasive, he adopted a radical narrative: Greece is a Success Story. A country that almost perished in 2012 is now on the mend; on the road to st...
Monetising the… ECB: The latest insult to be added on Greece’s multiplying injuries
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Last week another installment of the cruel theatre of the absurd, also known as the ‘Greek Rescue’ (and more recently re-released as ‘Greece’s success story’), was delivered silently: Not for the first time, the bankrupt...
Confessions of an Erratic Marxist: Keynote speech, Subversive Festival, Zagreb, Croatia – 14th May 2013
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My keynote speech at the 6th Subversive Festival is tonight at 19.00 at Kino Europa, Zagreb. FOR LIVESTREAMING OF THE TALK CLICK HERE. For the complete program click here. The abstract of my talk follows here… When I chose my PhD thesis, I int...
Raising Awareness in 60″ Video Competition
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And now for something quite different: Since our words and arguments are failing to have a serious impact, despite their value and reasonableness, perhaps it is time to resort to the artist’s touch. Vital Space invites all artist...
The Utopia of Democracy: May 12th to 18th in Zagreb
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Beginning this coming Sunday 12th May, and lasting all of next week, the 6th Subversive Festival will be held in Zagreb. This year’s general theme is: THE UTOPIA OF DEMOCRACY. Speakers will include Tariq Ali, Oliver Stone, Susan George, Franco...
Macroeconomic experiments: Abenomics versus Euro-austerity
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The ABC’s (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) online periodical, THE DRUM, commissioned me to write an article comparing and contrasting the policy responses to the Crisis of Japan and of the Eurozone. Click here for the ABC’s website.
Taking stock: May Day video discussion with Unite Solidarity International
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The video recording of my discussion with Andrew Brady, of USI, below is for ‘true believers’ only. It is a talk from the heart about the Eurozone Crisis on the day when labour around the world heralds the obligation and asserts the right...
Intransigent Bundesbank: Mr Jens Weidmann’s surreptitious campaign to bring back the (greater) Deutsch Mark
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Any fair minded reading of the Bundesbank’s latest Constitutional Court deposition must lead to one of two conclusions: Either the Bundesbank has failed to recognise the existentialist threat to the Eurozone (that was placed in suspended a...
Bitcoin and the dangerous fantasy of ‘apolitical’ money
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The Crash of 2008 has infused our societies with enormous scepticism on the role of the authorities, both government and Central Banks. It is quite natural that many dream of a currency that politicians, bankers and central bankers cannot manipulate;...
Greek Banksters in Action: On the latest twist in the story of mafia-style terror spreading through the Greek polity
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Last November I posted a piece entitled A Small Victory for Press Freedom in Greece’s Struggle against Cleptocracy. That story concerned the courageous decision of Kostas Vaxevanis, one of Greece’s few, valiant investigative reporters, to...
Germany’s continued dependence on the Eurozone’s stragglers
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There is a growing consensus among commentators that Germany is de-coupling from France and from the rest of the Eurozone’s deficit regions. That German industry is turning instead to Asia and the rest of the world (even to Britain) for sources...
Farewell Mrs Thatcher: In spite of everything, you are being missed already
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For the purposes of full disclosure, I write these words as someone who, back in the late ‘70s and throughout the ‘80s, joined countless picket lines and demonstrations against Mrs Thatcher’s regime, shouting on top of his voice (an...
On CBC Radio’s ‘Writers’ Program: Interviewed by Eleanor Wachtel on the Global Minotaur
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Over the past few years, I have been interviewed extensively on my views of the Crisis and my writings. Of all these interviews, this is the one that I enjoyed giving the most. Eleanor Wachtel generously afforded me the space to talk about Greece, my...
‘Coffee’ with the General Secretary of the OECD, discussing the Global Crisis; plus a talk on the Global Crisis
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As some of this blog’s regulars may remember, on 1st March 2013, I was invited to meet with the General Secretary of the OECD, Mr Angel Gurria, to exchange views on the global economic crisis and to discuss alternative policies that...
What should the ESM’s role be in stemming the banking crisis? A clarification
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I have noticed that a number of commentators have misunderstood my position on the Cyprus debacle and, more generally, on the question of how failed banks ought to be dealt with. As I made clear yesterday, I am all for bailing in the creditors, even...
The Good, the Bad and the Extremely Ugly (aspects of the Cyprus deal)
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There are some good features of the Cyprus deal and, of course, some bad aspects. However, its repercussions for the Eurozone as a whole are exceptionally ugly and will, I submit, mark a turning point for Europe; a point at which Europe took a nasty...
On Cyprus, the Eurozone and the Australian economy: A 30′ minute interview by Doug Henwood
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Behind the News with Doug Henwood: March 21st 2013 Filed under: European Crisis...
On BBC Radio 4, talking Cyprus
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Here is the audio that goes with these thoughts on Cyprus: Filed under: European Crisis...
While waiting for Cyprus’ Godot….
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Here are some unedited thoughts I just shared with the BBC’s Radio 4 on Cyprus while we are all waiting for the new deal to shape up: Cyprus’ banking sector must shrink. As did Ireland’s, the hard way. What is essential, as every Ir...
