Category Archives: Europe

Bond Market Flight to Safety as Investors Sweat Over Brexit Risk, Wobbly US Economy, Negative Rates

Investors got a big dose of bad news about the economy and geopolitics and reacted accordingly.

Banks Rebel Against Negative Interest Rates

Banks have had it with negative interest rates and are starting to push back.

The Abandonment of Countercyclical Fiscal Policy

Economists bemoan the lack of aggressive fiscal spending after the crisis. Funny how few of them were willing to advocate it when it mattered.

Hoisted From Comments: Neoliberalism Tearing Societies Apart

The true destructiveness of neoliberalism is becoming more and more apparent.

EU’s Politically Biased Tax Haven Blacklist Excludes US and Switzerland

Only small fry get whacked for being tax havens. The big boys get their waivers.

MH17 Coroner Michael Barnes, Australian Lawyers in Head-On Crash With the Rules of Evidence

A MH17 case in Australia violates ECHR rules and has a New South Wales coroner suppressing evidence and Sky News doctoring stories post publication.

Scenes From Paris Protests (and an Update from Alison)

A sighting from the protests in Paris over proposed anti-labor regulations.

Clinton Chasing Votes With Fracking U-Turn

Clinton’s fracking reversal will alienate the energy industry without appeasing environmentalists, since fracking produces methane and earthquakes.

IMF Not Funding July Greece Deal, Still Wants Serious Debt Relief Before Committing New Dough

The IMF has not given up on debt relief for Greece, but due to the upcoming Brexit vote, is holding off on the fight until fall.

Reader Note on Strikes in France: “Pass the Popcorn”

Transportation unions and airport workers are joining strikes in France to protest new labor laws,….right before the Euro Cup and tourist season.

Germany and IMF in Staredown Over Greek Debt Relief

The IMF and Germany have staked out irreconcilable positions on Greece. Who will blink first?

Michael Hudson: Warning to Europe – How the TTIP Threatens Public Health Care and Pensions

Why the TTIP poses a wide-ranging threat to European health and pension policies.

Lynn Parramore: Austerity Without Debt Relief Courts New Unrest in Greece

Economist James K. Galbraith warns that ‘unrealistic expectations’ by creditors of Greece is a recipe for turmoil

Germany Blinks on Giving Debt Relief to Greece….or Did It?

Despite press reports to the contrary, in this year’s game of chicken over the Greek bailout, it looks like the IMF, and not Germany, blinked.

Noam Chomsky: American Power Under Pressure

Seeing states as the vehicle for projecting power is dated, particularly as far as understanding America’s position is concerned.