The context: In the middle of a mighty bushfire the fire brigade just held a summit between its chief fire fighters (Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy) to discuss the importance of biodiversity, leaving the flames to destroy the forest. Italy and Spain are collapsing. The EFSF, the only institution that was set up to deal [...]

The publication of the European Union (EU) and German 2nd quarter GDP figures, following those for the US and Japan, completes the data regarding the state of the business recovery in the main developed economies. The picture is completely clear - Figure 1:

By the 2nd quarter of 2011 none of the major regions among the developed [...]

Given the onset of a renewed round of the international financial crisis it is useful to draw together its various elements in an analysis of its overall determinants, its course, and the policies necessary to deal with it. This is the aim of this article.
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For the second time in three years almost all [...]

How to judge the nth European agreement ”to save Greece” stipulated on Thursday 21st July? The financial markets have already provided their verdict: on Friday 22 the spread between the Italian ten-years Treasury Bonds and the German Bunds was still 258 basic points (2,58%), a level unsustainable for the Italian public finances. The next week begun [...]

The Greek debt crisis is both a significant economic event and a foreign policy success for Germany. It has, for the present, shifted the economic balance of power in Europe, and to some extent more widely, in Germany’s favour and against those in the US and Britain who do not favour the Euro and prefer a [...]

Introduction
In late March 2011 the UK Treasury published a consultation document on rebalancing the Northern Ireland Economy.  What follows is the Workers’ Party response to that document and its implications. It is our contention that the economy in Northern Ireland and throughout these islands needs to be rebalanced in favour of the two-thirds who have [...]

Last Sunday Michael Burke had an article in the Guardian’s Comment is Free on the European Banking Association’s stress tests and the current Eurozone debt crisis. Michael argues that the spending cuts imposed on “bailed out” economies are being imposed as a mechanism to save European banks, and the conditions around the paying of those [...]

As Europe’s debt crisis intensifies again an interesting international aspect is the policy choices this poses for China.
It is a further sign of the growing international effect of China’s economic strength that it had already become part of the discussion on how to resolve Greece’s specific debt crisis - which is [...]

See also, CEO’s new report published on the 27th of June, Europe’s Resources Grab.

This article was originally published on Socialist Economic Bulletin. Republished with permission.
The Greek economic and social crisis continues to unfold. Around it a series of myths have arisen and been perpetuated. It is necessary first to dispose of some of those myths before moving onto a concrete analysis of [...]