What a frigging disaster. Back in 2008, the US Federal Reserve let the Lehman Brothers investment bank – which held more than a bellyful of toxic debt, go to the wall. It was meant to bring “calm” to increasingly panicked financial markets. That will p…
Continue readingTag: austerity
Politics, Re-Spun: Austerity Leads to Suicide Rate Increase
Friday’s Vancouver Sun had a short item that you might have missed, “Suicides up, road deaths down due to recession.” It’s in the bottom corner of page B5: Suicides rates rose sharply in Europe in 2007 to 2009 as the financial crisis drove unemployment up and squeezed incomes, with the worst hit countries like Greece […]
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis a Sovereignty Crisis
Greek Parliament, Syntagma Athens – by kouk News outlets around the world have focused heavily on the so-called Greek Sovereign debt crisis this week. The proposed solution–an IMF loan package requiring “austerity measures” and a fire-sale of public assets–has sparked massive unrest in the capital, where people from all walks
Continue readingRedBedHead: Greek Austerity Vote Is Just The Beginning
There was a certain amount of hand-wringing by the business press and politicians internationally that the PASOK government of Greece might not be able to pass the second austerity package in a year. However, it seemed unlikely that more than a handful…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Live Stream: 48-Hour Greek General Strike Against Austerity
The fight is on. Greek workers are under a massive assault as international bankers, speculators, governments and capitalists try to force a brutal austerity package down their throats. Last year’s austerity has already doubled the unemployment rate to…
Continue readingOnce Again, Austerity For Thee But Not For Me
Here’s another example of financial obscenity. This time, in Europe. Yes, it seems to much for the Eurozone to lead by example.
While Greece erupts in riots over spending cuts mandated by international banks, bureaucrats in Brussels are fretting about the lavish new headquarters they’re building for themselves.
With stunning insensitivity, details about . . . → Read More: Once Again, Austerity For Thee But Not For Me
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Greece at a Crossroads
Now that the Greek government has survived a confidence vote in Parliament, the stage is set in Greece for further confrontations ahead of next week’s decision on the new “austerity” plan demanded by the “troika” – the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the European Union (EU). While the origins of […]
Continue readingRedBedHead: A View From The Volcano: Report From Greece
This is a fascinating interview from the British Socialist Worker Newspaper on what’s going on in Greece. All we’re really getting is the maneuverings and panic of the politicians and the bankers. This interview with a socialist gives a flavour of what…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Greek Meltdown: People vs Banks
Forget the riots in Vancouver by angry hockey fans, things are really on the boil in Greece. After a year of austerity measures that have all but killed the economy and which have driven down living standards substantially, the government is coming bac…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Support The Strikes To Defend Pensions
Usually even the mention of Margaret Wente’s name can ruin my day but her article in today’s Globe & Mail is actually not too bad in terms of laying out the terms of the strike and lock-out at Canada Post and Air Canada respectively. Of course, in …
Continue readingbastard.logic: Montreal Massacre: “Remember, then organize.”
by matttbastard Record snowfall may have forced the cancellation of local commemorative events, but the memories of December 6th, 1989 remain fresh, regardless of where we wrestle with them. Though we take time today to reflect on the untimely murders of 18 … Continue reading →