Sooner or later EU denial must give way to gut-wrenching reform. The longer the delay, the greater the pain for the Lost Generation.
The precipice of relative poverty never looks very threatening. Thus, despite mass eurozone youth unemployment and a 12 percent rate overall, Europe retains a facade of relative prosperity. However, the UK and US economies are growing with gusto, surpassing pre-re [...]
A couple of weeks ago the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung claimed that Germany was refusing to sign off the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).
The simple reason being the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) regulation which I have written about here. [...]
Back in 2003, with the illegal Iraq war looming and protests filling the streets of London in opposition, Vanity Fair's David Margolick came to Downing Street to interview Tony Blair.
When the writer broached the topic of religion – to US politicians what bees are to honey – the former PM’s spin doctor Alastair Campbell interjected sharply: “We don’t do God.” Of course, privately, B [...]
Forget Visa and MasterCard. After the two American credit system payment companies froze accounts without notice in March, Russia has been looking for an alternative in China UnionPay.
China UnionPay plans to have 2 million cards in Russia in the next three years. [...]
Washington has refused to allow the UN International Court of Justice (IJC) to hear Argentina's claims that US court decisions on the country's debt have violated Argentina's sovereignty.
“We do not view the ICJ as an appropriate venue for addressing Argentina’s debt issues, and we continue to urge Argentina to engage with its creditors to resolve remaining issues with bondholders,” the U [...]
Inequality between the richest and poorest metropolitan areas in the US is at its highest since 1969, and could hamper the recovery of the housing market that was at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis.
A report by the US Commerce and Labor Department shows that when analyzing the largest 100 metropolitan areas in the country, the disparity between the 10th most affluent region and the 90th [...]
Here's the curious rub about food sanctions, it rather throws down the gauntlet for Russia to close up a legacy of Communism.
For all those who believe in big government, food provision is a good place to start disabusing the quaint (and horribly flawed) notion that the public sector can be more efficient. [...]
Russia and the EU have to look for a basis for a new dialogue of non-confrontation as they should be strategic partners working for consolidation of peace and normal economic life, Kostas Isyhos from Greece's left-wing SYRIZA party told RT.
First of all, because Greece is going through the 5th year of constant recession. The memorandum policy which has been followed with austerity programs in t [...]
The Russian and Chinese central banks have agreed a draft currency swap agreement, which will allow them to increase trade in domestic currencies and cut the dependence on the US dollar in bilateral payments.
“The draft document between the Central Bank of Russia and the People’s Bank of China on national currency swaps has been agreed by the parties,” and is at the stage of formal approv [...]
Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree on the full ban for imports of beef, pork, poultry meat, fish, cheese, milk, vegetables and fruit from Australia, Canada, the EU, the US and Norway. The ban will last a year, starting August 7.
The Prime Minister also said Russia has stopped transit flights by Ukrainian airlines to such destinations as Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, addin [...]
The US dollar, the dominant global currency since 1944, may lose some of its luster due to the American-led sanctions against Russia over the turmoil in Ukraine. The greenback has been fading in favor since the global financial crisis in 2008.
The US-led sanctions against Russia may have backfired on the US because it threatens to “hasten a move away from the dollar that’s been stirring sin [...]
The World Trade Organization got a surprise setback on Thursday when India, pushing for concessions on agricultural stockpiling, vetoed plans for universal customs rules. The deal could have added $1 trillion and 21 million jobs to the world economy.
The July 31 deadline on the first proposal for major global economic reform in two decades - a series of customs procedures known as "trade facili [...]
Ukraine's GDP in the second quarter of 2014 has declined 4.7 percent compared to the same period in 2013, the Ukrainian State Statistics Service said on Wednesday. The contraction was more than four times the 1.1 percent fall in the first quarter.
The gross domestic product of Ukraine has been falling every quarter since the beginning of 2012. Ukraine expects GDP to tumble by 6-6.5 percent this [...]
Moscow is disappointed by the EU's inability to act independently from Washington's dictation in the international arena, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in response to the new package of sanctions.
“We feel ashamed for the European Union who, after long searching for a unified voice is now speaking with Washington’s voice, having practically abandoned basic European values, including the [...]
Russian-made firearms are reportedly flying off the shelves of American gun stores after the United States Treasury Department announced sanctions last week against the maker of the popular AK-47 rifle.
Kalashnikov Concern, the company responsible for the eponymous gas-operated 7.62 caliber assault rifle known largely around the world as the AK-47, is among the latest Russian-owned entities to [...]
Entrepreneurism in American has been on the decline for at least 30 years, a new report suggests, and for the first time in three decades the number of business "deaths" in the United States exceeds that of "births."
The report, published on Monday this week by economists from the Brookings Institute, examines business dynamism in America — or how the process by which firms are continually bo [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its growth expectations for the world's biggest economy to 1.7 percent for the year, after a harsh winter crushed growth in the first quarter.
In June, the Washington DC-based institution forecast US growth at 2 percent.
The revised forecast is below last year’s 1.9 percent growth rate, and would be the slowest annual rate for the United St [...]
The duty-free trade deal between Russia and Ukraine is coming to an end. Russia says fundamental changes mean that it will invoke Article 62 of the Vienna Declaration to terminate the understanding. The move comes as Russia insists it needs to protect domestic markets after Ukrainesigned the Association Agreement on June 27, which gives Kiev duty-free trade status with the European Union. [...]
Americaâs public debt will rise to 106 percent of GDP in the next 25 years, a level seen just once in US history - just after World War II, the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned. US debt has skyrocketed to over $17 trillion, and is now about 74 percent of total gross domestic product, the CBO said on Tuesday. [...]