This rich couple is doing good with their money. Regina caught sight of a jacket in the water during the cruise, and when she asked about it, she was told it might belong to a dead migrant who was trying to find safety in Europe. While some Europeans criticize the
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Canadian Dimension: Greece on a knife edge
Photo from Public Domain It is exactly five years since Greece joined the European Support Mechanism with the close cooperation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At that time, the key and critical financial data were the following: GDP amounted to 222.151 billions at the end of 2010. The public
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Spain’s Gag Law: spectre of an authoritarian past
Spain’s Gag Law: spectre of an authoritarian past. by Carlos Delclós On Friday 10 April 2015, holographic images of about 2,000 protestors from all over the world were projected onto the facade of the Spanish Parliament by the citizen platform No somos delito (“we are not a crime”). Images of
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Why is the West Spoiling for a Fight with Russia?
Photo by Kremlin.ru What are the consequences when elected governments make policy based on faith and imperial hubris instead of science and expertise? It’s a question that is forcing itself on the world as we watch the United States, Britain, NATO and the Harper government continue to up the ante
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The Armenian Genocide: An Open Wound
An Armenian woman kneeling beside a dead child • Photo by American Committee for Relief in the Near East To the memory of Stepan Shaumyan, Armenian Bolshevik leader of the Baku Commune in 1918, and of Hrant Dink, Armenian socialist intellectual from Istanbul who, until his assassination in 2007, exerted
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Toronto Symphony cancels performances by Ukrainian-born pianist for anti-war views
Photo by elPadawan The following statement was released on Facebook on April 6 by the renowned Ukrainian-born classical pianist Valentina Lisitsa. It is in response to the decision of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to cancel two performances by her with the symphony planned for April 8 and 9 of Rachmaninoff’s
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Podcast: The roots of the Greece crisis in European integration and what this means for the future
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/podcast150402-europe.mp3 As the simmering crisis between Greece and the institutions formerly known as the Troika heats up again, it’s a good time to look once more at the roots of the European crisis and what they mean for the possibilities open before Syriza at the present juncture. Greece is being squeezed
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Eyewitness Greece: The SYRIZA factor in European politics
Image from Public Domain The following talk, “The Greek elections – what next? SYRIZA and the fight against austerity,” was presented to the Department of Political Economy and the Australia-Greece Solidarity Campaign, March 10, 2015, at the University of Sydney’s New Law School. Dick Nichols is Green Left Weekly’s and
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Contesting Capitalism in the Eurozone
In light of the new Syriza government’s difficult struggle against the German dominated institutions of the Eurozone, I’ve revisited a little known book published ten years ago by political scientist Richard Dunphy called Contesting Capitalism? Left Parties and European Integration (Manchester University Press, 2004). In the book, Dunphy charts out the
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: THE EURO, THE DRACHMA AND GREECE: limited options in an impossible situation
Jean-Francois Ponsot Associate Professor of Economics, Université de Grenoble (France) and Louis-Philippe Rochon Associate Professor of Economics, Laurentian University (Canada) Co-Editor, Review of Keynesian Economics ___________________ The final agreement between Greece and the Eurogroup is a disappointment for anyone who held high hopes that Greece would have taken away more
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Who Killed Boris Nemtsov?
Photo by Dhārmikatva Practically no one in the West doubts the murder of once-rising reform politician Boris Nemtsov was the work of Vladimir Putin, and/or his allies in government. If Putin didn’t give the direct order, the pundits say, the Russian leader created the “atmosphere of hatred” directed at the
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: The rise of Europe’s new Left
The rise of Europe’s new Left. By Bryan Evans Filed under: Europe, Socialism Tagged: Austerity, Europe, Eurozone Crisis, Greece, Podemos, Spain, Syriza
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The SYRIZA Moment: A Skeptical Argument
Photo by Thierry Ehrmann The victory of Syriza in Greece is an important moment. Indeed, I think it is going to be a historic turning point for Europe and the world, for better or for worse. Syriza defines itself explicitly as “as a party of the democratic and radical Left,”
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: A Different Kind of State
Photo by Olaf Kosinsky The position of Syriza is unenviable. It has taken power in a country in the grips of economic depression, riven by oligarchic networks and, for now, still at the mercy of international institutions. Nevertheless, it is the first European government of the radical left in living
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Juncker urged to revive ‘Social Europe’ model
Juncker urged to revive ‘Social Europe’ model. by Benjamin Fox The ‘Social Europe’ model must be revived if the EU is to avoid lumbering itself with low social mobility and other economic millstones, according to a report published Monday (23 February) by Brussels-based think-tank Friends of Europe. The ‘Unequal
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Syriza buys four months of breathing room
Belatedly, here is an article I wrote on Greece’s agreement with the Eurozone for Ricochet. It focuses on the next four months with their opportunities and pitfalls. Given that the list of reforms authored by Yanis Varoufakis looks to get the approval of the Eurogroup member states, the article remains relevant, the breathing
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Is a socialist EU possible via left-wing populist parties such as Syriza, Podemos and the HDP? | openDemocracy
Is a socialist EU possible via left-wing populist parties such as Syriza, Podemos and the HDP? | openDemocracy. Filed under: Europe, Socialism Tagged: EU, Europe, Podemos, Socialism, Syriza
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Iceland’s Supreme Court Upholds Jail Sentences of Four Banking Executives
Filed under: Capitalism, Crisis, Europe Tagged: Financial crisis, Iceland
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ukraine, NATO and Canadian complicity
Right Sector activists stand in front of a Belarusian “democratic” movement flag • Photo by Mstyslav Chernov Longtime trade union activist, former aerospace worker and writer Roger Annis spoke with Canadian Dimension editorial assistant Harrison Samphir about the war in Ukraine, threats to European stability, and the complicity of the
Continue readingTerahertz: Rounded democracy
Many legislative debating chambers have been designed and built in the past 50 years. Living in the UK, I’ve been able to travel to and see a number of them. The National Assembly of Wales in Cardiff: The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh: The European Parliament in Brussels (and similarly in
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