Yves here. While itmay seem far afield of normal NC fare, I thought this post on the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp was worth highlighting for several reasons. One is, as you’ll see, the way that the well-funded armed services are managing to suck funds out of already-struggling inner city school budgets. Second is that […]
Read more...As in so many Western countries these days, the social, political and economic landscapes in Spain are shifting at a startling rate. In the last two weeks alone the Rajoy government has announced one draft law and passed another that threaten to radically redraw the country’s system of law and order.
Read more...By a regular reader of Naked Capitalism who has asked to remain anonymous
A few days after surgery I got Tourette’s syndrome.
Read more...I’ve been fascinated lately with the meaning of the terms “liberal” and “progressive.” It’s clear that what we now call “liberalism” is really a variant, a side branch of the real thing, and should be more properly named “FDR liberalism” or “social liberalism.”
Read more...Get a cup of coffee while you settle down to watch this video of Nancy Fraser discussing the crisis as a joint problem of ecological, financial, and social systems.
Read more...It may seem a bit de trop to take on a Paul Krugman blog post yet again, but the reason for focusing on his post yesterday on the TransPacific Partnership is less for its substance and more as a political zeitgeist indicator.
Read more...Moyers describes how the social contract in America is being dismantled in order to further enrich what he calls a “mercenary class”.
Read more...Yves here. Even though Yanis Varoufakis has savaged the Trokia’s austerity policies that are driving Greece and other periphery countries into economic and social distress as well as fueling the rise of extreme right wing parties, some readers of this blog have criticized him for advocating reforms to pull the Eurozone out of its nosedive […]
Read more...To the extent that middle class and more affluent people think about poverty in America, they likely have blurry, partial images due to distance and lack of direct experience. Their remedies might include better education and training, higher minimum wages, more affordable housing.
New Scientist thinks otherwise. Its headline for a blistering editorial: Want to fix US inequality? Begin with worming tablets.
Read more...What worries me most about the world today, in the last weeks before Christmas and New Year’s Day 2014, is that all the plans we make for our futures and more importantly our children’s futures are DOA.
Read more...Last week, I was reading parts of a report issued by Japanese investment bank Nomura, which started out saying that the “Global Financial Crisis” is over. If I lay out a statement like that side by side with a lot of other things I see, I can only conclude that Nomura doesn’t reside in the same universe I do.
Read more...Yves here. Das continues his discussion of the impact of the erosion of trust (see here for Part I). Here he focuses on the political impact on international dealings and national politics.
Read more...“Success is relative” wrote T. S. Eliot in his play The Family Reunion, “It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things.” This is an apposite description of the current “success” in the EU. A financial and political disaster has been transformed into a permanent calamity.
Read more...Yves here. Das makes some statements in this post that I am certain will provide grist for reader discussion. But even if you quibble on some of the particulars, I anticipate you’ll agree on the extent of the damage done to trust at various levels of society and how costly it is proving to be.
Read more...Michael Hudson sent this short video which explains the history of debt jubilees and the role of private debt in the rise of oligarchies.
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