February 2011
11 posts
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A change for the better?
Fianna Fáil to be punished by Irish electorate, but little variation in policy expected from Fine Gael.
The result of the election on Friday of next week (25 February) is hardly in doubt. It is already clear that the voters will throw out Fianna Fáil, the party that has led the current government and dominated Irish politics for the past 70 years.
Fine Gael, the main centre-right party, which...
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The Arab world's triple crisis
Economic want and inequality, as much as political repression, incited the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions. It is, of course, to be hoped that new governments in these countries, and other Arab leaders, will better address ordinary people’s grievances. But a mere change of government will not make these countries’ economic problems go away. Indeed, the converging effects of...
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The evolving structure of global growth
Why restoring competitiveness and creating new jobs will be so hard for advanced economies. Since the end of the Second World War, the global economy’s trade and financial openness has increased, thanks to institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and successive rounds of liberalisation, starting with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947. In parallel,...
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European Parliament post office robbed at...
Two men make away with safe from post office, as the Parliament is robbed for the third time.
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“There is no evidence to discriminate against oil from oil sands by putting it in...”
– Ron Liepert, the energy minister for Alberta, on tar sands. Today, a leaked study from the European Commission claims that emissions from tar sands are 23% higher than from other fuels.
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Is the EU ready to take on an oversight role in...
This is the year that the EU should take over oversight of the Dayton Peace Accords.
Amid all the scepticism and uncertainty about the European Union’s global role at the start of the New Year, it is useful to recall its influence in helping secure peace and stability in the western Balkans.
This is one region where the lure of EU membership, free travel and trade, educational and cultural...
