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COMMENTARIES

  • Austerity under Attack

    Series: Euronomics
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    2012-02-03
    As the European economy risks falling into recession, many observers are asking whether austerity could lead to such a sharp decline in economic activity that revenues fall and the fiscal position actually deteriorates further. But it would be dangerous for the eurozone’s highly indebted countries to abandon austerity now.... read
    Comments: 4   Recommended: 0   Read: 2574
  • Havel Lives

    , and Series: Human Rights
    2012-02-03
    PRAGUE – The death of Václav Havel, the former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, has been marked with mourning around the world. For his friends, the loss is overwhelming, but we all take comfort from the fact that his courage and his ideas helped to change our world for the better, and are still continuing to do so.... read
    Comments: 0   Recommended: 0   Read: 683
  • The Decline of the West Revisited

    Series: War and Peace
    2012-02-02
    Since the publication in 1918 of Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, prophecies about the inexorable doom of what he called the “Faustian Civilization” have been a recurrent topic for thinkers and public intellectuals. But the debate's recurrence is itself proof that Spengler was wrong.... read
    Comments: 2   Recommended: 0   Read: 4276
  • A Seismic Crime

    Series: Science and Society
    2012-02-02
    The devastating earthquake that hit L'Aquila, Italy in 2009 has sparked a court trial and lingering questions about scientific experts' failures to communicate risk to the public. Scientists around the world have rightly spoken out against the trial in Italy, but will we be ready when the next big earthquake strikes?... read
    Comments: 0   Recommended: 0   Read: 3202
  • America’s Three Deficits

    Series: The Growth Imperative
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    2012-02-02
    The US faces painful choices about how to close its long-run fiscal gap, and a credible plan should be decided now and implemented promptly – but only after the economy has recovered. For the next few years, the priorities of fiscal policy should be jobs, investment, and growth.... read
    Comments: 1   Recommended: 0   Read: 5948
  • Central Bankers in the Line of Fire

    Series: The Rules Of The Game
    2012-02-02
    The decision in January by Philipp Hildebrand to resign as Chairman of the Board of the Swiss National Bank, after a suspicious trade made by his wife, is to be welcomed. But, while Hildebrand’s resignation should serve as a precedent to be followed elsewhere, the circumstances surrounding his departure smell much worse than what caused it.... read
    Comments: 0   Recommended: 0   Read: 3416
  • The Nigerian Crucible

    Series: Into Africa
    2012-02-01
    Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, has allowed his government to loot the treasury, while militant organizations terrorize the populace. Its rich and powerful have already plunged Nigeria into a bloody civil war once, and they appear ready to do it again.... read
    Comments: 0   Recommended: 0   Read: 3349
  • Coronary Capitalism

    Series: The Unbound Economy
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    2012-02-01
    Just as the financial industry caused a near-meltdown of the global economy in 2008, the food industry has facilitated the explosion of obesity around the world. In both cases, the links to broader problems with contemporary Western capitalism have become impossible to ignore.... read
    Comments: 7   Recommended: 0   Read: 15756