German Philosophy for Immigrants
The line to speak with a consular official is never so long as when you’re studying 19th-century philosophy and everything you desire exists on the other side of an ocean.
Eurozonia
A collection of 13 issues
Bunga Bunga Boing
Throughout this crisis, nothing has convinced me that massive cuts to government spending (instead of say, raising taxes, or just making sure people and companies pay their taxes) is a path to growth or recovery. So with the parting gift of austerity, Berlusconi’s departure is bittersweet. With the Greek
Postcards From Europe, Hastily Scrawled
The subtitle of the international version of the book is “The Meltdown Tour.” Lewis acts as tour guide, showing us some ruins, dramatizing the fall with anecdotes, spouting historical hyperbole, and stitching it together with stereotypes. The book is enjoyable when the sheer ineptitude of the powerful is drawn out—
As Arizona, So the Continent
That election saw the defeat of a right-wing coalition which, allied with the far-right Danish People’s Party, earned Denmark the label of the Arizona of Europe, due to immigration policies and xenophobia. Here in Denmark, most people are happy that time’s over. A left-wing coalition
Needs Must
When they say “must,” the commenters quoted are trying to say that any other course of action is dumb, because the one they’ve proposed is better. Instead, they aren’t saying anything at all. Europe must work backwards from a vision of where its monetary system will be several
Crisis Is Just a Detour in the Decline of the West
It again looks likely that Greece will default. While it hardly indicates the immediate demise of a whole continent, European politicians and markets fear the consequences for the Eurozone. John Lanchester is even more fearful. He writes in the London Review of Books that this crisis is just a single
Ghostride the Wake
First the bad news: Trouble remains, fundamental flaws may doom the continent, and growth isn’t happening as fast as hoped. Business and consumer confidence appear strikingly low, according to figures released this week. But of course; there’s no reason sentiment should differ from the financial markets, or that
No Choice for Politics
The more I read about the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, the more I worry. It’s unclear though whether I worry more because I’m learning more about the scale of the problem, or if reading about it is, in and of itself, making me unnecessarily anxious. Politicians offer me
Talk Less Shit, Be More Anal
Case one: Speculation regarding France’s creditworthiness last week led to French shares losing 15 percent of their value. Something was responsible for fears of French exposure to Eurozone debt. NPR traced the possible source of the rumors to the Mail on Sunday, which published a piece questioning the liquidity
No Vacation From Volatility
He is taking a seaside view of the crisis, says the Financial Times, noting that Italian economic policy is “in effect being dictated from outside as Italy becomes the latest front line in the battle to save the euro from the sovereign debt crisis.” Chancellor Merkel is on vacation, taking