You've Got to Move
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The collision of demography and politics in the current crisis should push EU policy makers to move quickly on some of the unfinished business of European integration. In response to my recent post on the outmigration of qualified young people...
“Let everybody talk about their shame, I would talk about my shame!” - By Patricia Floric
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Hearing the name Rade Šerbedžija you may well wonder who he is… but as soon as you see his face, you recognise him. He is one of the most famous actors in the Balkans, and despite acting in many American movies, he always comes back to his homela...
The Closer
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ROUND-UPUS stocks brushed off algos gone wild (see below) only to slump in dejection after the Fed opted not to deliver immediate easing. The S&P 500 fell 0.29 per cent to close at 1,375.32....
Når lov og it-system blir forsinket
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Jeg har skrevet kronikk i Dagbladet om kjennelsen fra Gulating lagmannsrett i dag. Mens vi venter på en avklaring fra Høyesterett, har jeg samlet sammen en mengde av artiklene som har vært skrevet de siste årene om straffeloven 2005 og politiets...
Når lov og it-system blir forsinket
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Jeg har skrevet kronikk i Dagbladet om kjennelsen fra Gulating lagmannsrett i dag. Mens vi venter på en avklaring fra Høyesterett, har jeg samlet sammen en mengde av artiklene som har vært skrevet de siste årene om straffeloven 2005 og politiets...
Long Beach and Christa Givich
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It was a great pleasure to be able to ‘welcome aboard’ the Queen Mary this evening my Johns Hopkins University contemporary, Christa Givich, and her husband, Mike. She and I studied together at the School of Advanced International Studies...
Institutions are not thermodynamic systems
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Immaterial infrastructures like institutions are not thermodynamic systems, as it is a car for example. And the reason it's quite simple: they're immaterial, as I said.It seems the question was so obvious that nobody answered me :)If we feel tha...
Europeans and the South China Sea
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How and why should Europeans become more involved in the foreign and strategic affairs of the Indo-Pacific? Why are the European isolationists wrong? What role, in particular, is there for the United Kingdom and France? And should Europeans be willin...
Japan Stands Up
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In a display of its resilience, Japan is getting up once again after the devastating earthquake and tsunami of a year ago. But the world’s third largest economy still faces multiple challenges, and in our latest assessment of the country’s econo...
Pussy Riot are a reminder that revolution always begins in culture | Suzanne Moore
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Vladimir Putin is right to be frightened by Pussy Riot. They are essentially a concept and you can't stop a conceptSome people have their eyes on the prize. A prize beyond medals. That prize is freedom, freedom of expression, freedom to protest. I am...
Keynesians Winning in Explaining Economies in Deleveraging Shock: Krugman has the Story in Money for Nothing at the New York Times
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We read Paul Krugman not because he is always right, and indeed he admittedly does not always claim to be, but Krugman stands out in the ranks of the world's top economists in rejecting voodoo economics, gullible wishful thinking and unproven politi...
The Fed, pacing
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The full statement – we’ll pick it apart in a sec, but on a first read the pickings seem… slim. Apart from this bit continuing:“The Committee anticipates...
PLA in the political structure of China
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China celebrates People’s Liberation Army’s 85th anniversary. Question: PRC is somehow in the period of the power transition. What kind of role, if any, PLA’s leadership play in this? How would you describe the position of military...
PLA in the political structure of China
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China celebrates People’s Liberation Army’s 85th anniversary. Question: PRC is somehow in the period of the power transition. What kind of role, if any, PLA’s leadership play in this? How would you describe the position of military...
Introducing the Financial Transaction Tax
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France is the first member-state of the European Union to introduce the Financial Transaction Tax to all publicly trade businesses with market value over 1 billion euros. Is this finally a strategic decision with long-term results for public finance...
Deutschland's orthodoxy ueber alles ? (meet the Flintstones)
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Dear reader,this author always tries to avoid cynical remarks and offer instead some alternatives out of the ongoing mess which might result in an outright catastrophe. But some remarks and inaction by others , must perhaps get addressed in a more gr...
A long, hot summer – and an even hotter autumn
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As the financial crisis accelerates in Spain, resistance to austerity is growing Spain is living through the sharpest period of unrest in a generation. Mass protest is now a daily fact of life. Millions having filled the streets and plazas. Job centr...
Stealth DNA database would be 'dangerous'
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A new genetic research centre at London's Olympic park could pave the way for the creation by stealth of a DNA database of the whole population – which would be a dangerous infringement of everyone's rights, argues Helen Wallace...
What’s in a Name? Focus on Punk Band
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If the point of Pussy Riot’s provocative name was meant as feminist challenge to the status quo then the Russian punk band on trial for an anti-Kremlin protest can already claim victory.
Open Europe commemorates Derek Scott
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The Open Europe team would like to pay tribute to our Vice-Chairman Derek Scott, who sadly passed away last night after having suffered from cancer for several months. A former advisor to Tony Blair, Derek was a courageous economist and opinion form...
Colour of language
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You may think there is a difference between the colour of grass and the colour of the sky because in English, we use two distinct colour words: ‘blue’ and ‘green’. Most languages, however, use only one word to describe both things. Does this...
Colour of language
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You may think there is a difference between the colour of grass and the colour of the sky because in English, we use two distinct colour words: ‘blue’ and ‘green’. Most languages, however, use only one word to describe both things. Does this...
Prague's new prosecutor
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IN a move backed by anti-corruption activists and the public, Pavel Blažek the Czech justice minister, appointed Lenka Bradáčová to head the Prague prosecutor’s office on July 30th. Some optimists see this as a sign that decades of clientelist...
Romney’s offend-a-thon comes to an end
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If the aim of Mitt Romney’s ‘world tour’ over the past week was to demonstrate his ability to tactfully represent the United States on the world stage, it’s safe to say the trip had the opposite effect. Professing to be on a quest to ‘resto...
Europa 2024 (i): Will the EU become a Superstate by the next decade?
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superstate (suːpəsteɪt), noun, a large and powerful state formed from a federation or union of nations: “We are not advocates of a European superstate.” – Oxford Dictionaires. Victor Hugo famously spoke of the “United States of Europe” a...
Knight, and algo fear
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Shares in Knight Capital Group, market maker in US stocks par excellence , were down as much as 26 per cent at pixel time.The further leg down came from this:*KNIGHT TELLS...
Who Really Will Meet the Criteria for an Irish Debt Relief Certificate?
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A Debt Relief Certificate (DRC) is just one of three brand new procedures contained in the first draft of the Personal Insolvency Bill that was published by the Irish Government at the end of January 2012. The draft bill will probably be changed cons...
