An aggressive austerity agenda that has gripped Europe’s economy in a burgeoning malaise for nearly five years has come to an unexpected head in the tiny island nation of Cyprus. The latest fiscal catastrophe to develop across the pond has thrown global markets into turmoil and raised questions of how far Europeans are willing to [...]
THEY GIVE OSCARS, DO THEY NOT, FOR FISCAL CHARADES LIKE THE ONE NOW PLAYING IN WASHINGTON, D.C.? If they did, Fix the Debt, the spectacular show produced by billionaire Pete Peterson, with a cast of dozens of fellow plutocrats, would be a shoo-in for an award. The lobby group that Peterson heads has already [...]
Congress was able to cobble together a temporary patch for the self-imposed fiscal cliff in a series of late-night votes featuring intra-party bickering and a widespread sense that the final deal was imperfect and nothing more than a painful necessity. Well over a year since the artificial deadline for the “cliff” was concocted by the [...]
Corporate tax avoidance is first and foremost on the kinds of an increasing number of large American corporations that are picking up their company headquarters and moving overseas. Flush with breaks and loopholes provided by Congress that have enabled them to pay rates far below the advertised U.S. corporate tax, businesses are nonetheless fleeing America’s [...]
“THERE IS NO MORAL FACTOR BUILT INTO THE DNA OF US FOREIGN POLICY.” William Blum puts that biting punctuation mark on as essay in which he denounces the opportunism of American policy makers in supporting any kind of overseas forces who encourage American aspirations for global dominance. How else, he asks, explain the persistent [...]
` THE END OF EURO AUSTERITY: NEW FRENCH GOVERNMENT ORDERS UP HIGHER TAXES ON THE RICH AND POWERFUL (Business Week) ` The program of mass fiscal austerity imposed by Germany and Eurozone financial leaders on European nations struggling through the continent’s crippling debt crisis and recession appears to be dead, with policy changes from the new French government taking aim at the core [...]
SPANISH BAILOUT HAS COUNTRY PREPARED FOR “THUMBSCREW OF AUSTERITY” (World Socialist) A few observers declared that the European fiscal crisis took a sizable step towards a positive resolution with the announcement this week that banks and officials with the European Union and International Monetary Fund would bail out Spain with a 100 billion euro loan [...]
` THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN ENERGY IS NOT A PRETTY SIGHT. (Business Insider) ` With projects like the infamous Keystone XL pipeline from Canada through the heartland of America inexorably marching towards approval, the next chapter of America’s addiction to fossil fuels appears to be Canadian oil sands. The massive tar sands deposits in Alberta is home to perhaps [...]
WHAT’S THAT IN THE SKY? A BIRD? A PLANE? “NOPE, JUST OUR LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENT’S 25-POUND DRONE…” (Business Week) Unprecedented police control of the nation’s skies appears imminent after the Federal Aviation Administration and the Obama administration gave hearty approval to the request of undetermined “public safety agencies” to place unmanned drones weighing up [...]
STUDENTS IN QUEBEC AGREE TO BE SCREWED BY THE GOVERNMENT. (World Socialist) Once again labor unions in the province betray the interest of the people whose union they supposedly represent. The government undertakes “austerity” measures to place the burden of deficit reductions on the backs of students through drastic tuition hikes. Violent student protest is finally muted [...]
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