As G20 leaders met in Cannes, they faced an economic situation in the developed economies best summed up by Goldman Sachs, the company which invented the term ‘BRIC’, as the ‘Great Stagnation’. Until recently developments following the financial crash of 2008 had been accurately termed the ‘Great Recession’ - describing the greatest economic downturn since [...]

Last week, the European Union Council agreed on a set of policies for tackling the euro crisis. It was hoped that the new agreement (hereafter referred to as the October Agreement) would be a decisive step toward resolving a slow burning crisis that threatened to derail the euro, plunge the EU itself into a process [...]

As every Radio, TV and social media outfit in Europe, including here in Ireland,  is talking about Greece, the 50% haircut etc, I thought it would be useful for those of us who read the ILR to revisit the issue from another angle. To take note of some of the comments made, verbatim, by the [...]

In what may be an important development the Financial Times reports that, in return for accepting much larger ‘haircuts’ (imposed losses on the value of the bonds they own) bondholders are demanding that there must be a growth strategy for Greece.
In a piece headlined ‘Bondholders Demand Greek Growth Plan’ the paper quotes the Managing Director and chief [...]

I’m sure like me, readers of this have been consumed with the great debate going on in Ireland at the moment. Apart from the rain and receding flood waters, it’s all anyone wants to talk about. Of course the outcome of this discussion will be seen in the very near future, but still its good [...]

Rakel Sigurgeirsdóttir, an Icelandic teacher from Reykjavík sent on this explanation for the open letter (below) that is addressed to the foreign experts invited to attend the Iceland´s Recovery-Lessons and Challenges conference, being held on October 27th in Reykjavík. The foreign experts include Paul Krugman, Martin Wolf, Simon Johnson, and Willem Buiter. The full letter [...]

This is a very interesting instalment from an interview that the Scottish branch of Unite the union conducted with Yanis Varoufakis in which he provides a very damning assessment of social democratic parties in Europe.
From the Unite Scotland’s description of interview:
“Unite Scotland’s fourth and final instalment in the Varoufakis series puts focus on [...]

One of the more factually inaccurate pictures being spread by supporters of the policies of the present UK government - with its priority to budget deficit reduction - is that UK economic performance during the financial crisis is superior to that of the evidently crisis hit Eurozone. A typical version of this appears in an article [...]

What was described by European Commission President as a “silent revolution” was passed in the European Parliament on Wednesday with hardly a mention in the mainstream media. The implications of the so-called six-pack of economic governance measures are vast. This package represents a qualitative leap forward in terms of the institutionalisation of austerity and neo-liberal [...]

Press release from GUE/NGL members in the European Parliament about today’s vote which brings in the austerity-ramping 6 pack provisions for increased economic governance at EU level.
Following today’s European Parliament vote on the economic governance package, GUE/NGL MEPs regretted the passing of new provisions as an “attack on democracy” that will remove core elements of [...]