There are repeating episodes in world macroeconomics that demonstrate the absurdity of the mainstream way of thinking. One, obviously is the recurring debt ceiling charade in the US, where over a period of months, the various parties make threats and pretend they will close the government down by failing to pass the bill. Others think…
European Union
I am currently researching statistical and textual material as part of my plan to produce an updated version of my 2015 book – Eurozone Dystopia: Groupthink and Denial on a Grand Scale (published May 2015) – to take into account the pandemic, Brexit and other major changes that impact on Europe’s position in the world…
Today, I consider the Greek situation, the decision by the UK Chancellor to further deregulate the financial services sector and then to calm everyone down or not, some music. The Financial Times published an article (December 12, 2024) – The astonishing success of Eurozone bailouts – which basically redefines the meaning of English words like…
One would reasonably think that if someone had been exposed in the past for pumping out a discredited academic paper after being at the forefront of the destructive austerity push during the Global Financial Crisis, then some circumspection might be in order. Apparently not. In 2010, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff published a paper in…
Some Wednesday snippets. First, I juxtapose the political machinations that the EU President is engaged in to consolidate and expand her power within the European Commission with the reality that Member State governments are becoming dysfunction because social instability and political extremism are rife. Then I reflect on my experience as Chancellor of Britain –…
For all those Europhile progressives who have held out that reform is the way to deal with the neoliberalism of the European Union and even, in some cases, claimed that the austerity mindset was over (once the fiscal rules enshrined in the Stability and Growth Pact were temporarily suspended during the pandemic), the behaviour of…
For some years now (since the pandemic), I have been receiving E-mails from those interested in the Eurozone telling me that the analysis I presented in my 2015 book – Eurozone Dystopia: Groupthink and Denial on a Grand Scale (published May 2015) – was redundant because the European Commission and the ECB had embraced and…
Earlier this week, the German statistical agency, De Statis released – Press release No.316 of 19 August 2024 – which confirmed that Germany continues to run policy settings that undermine the viability of the common currency. During the pandemic, Germany’s trade surplus declined significantly and the mainstream commentariat all pronounced that Germany had shifted direction…
In the recent issue of the ECB Economic Bulletin (issue 4/2024) there was an article – Longer-term challenges for fiscal policy in the euro area – which demonstrates why the common currency and its bevy of fiscal rules and restrictions is incapable of meeting the challenges that humanity and the natural world face in the…
It’s Wednesday and today I don’t comment on the US Supreme Court decision to embed criminal behaviour in the presidency (how much of a joke will the US become) or the Presidential debate, which has focused on the performance of Biden while, seemingly ignoring the serial lies told by the other contender. If these two…