Syriza, in choosing to enter into coalition with the Independent Greeks, is sending a clear message to the Eurozone’s leaders: it is intent on challenging Greece’s debt repayments. So, some form of challenge…
A joke that is often told among European leftists these days portrays the current situation between Germany and Greece quite accurately. An officer at the passport control at Athens airport asks a tourist…
Greece faces a decisive moment on January 25 in a snap election that could see major gains for the extreme left and right. But anyone worried about how Syriza on one side, or Golden Dawn on the other…
From their inception, austerity policies have been promoted as necessary for economic recovery. Throughout Europe, the demand to cut spending and deficits is presented not as a choice but a requirement…
The nightmare for Cyprus started in March 2013. The country’s banking sector faced a sudden squeeze. The two biggest players – Bank of Cyprus and Marfin Laiki Bank – were in danger of a collapse which…
The Greek economy, after five years of recession, has nearly reached the top of the hill it has been climbing. But there is a real threat that in just a few months it will roll back down again. Like Sisyphus…
Marianna Fotaki, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
The Athens stock market plunged in its biggest one-day fall since the 1980s on December 9, following the Greek prime minister’s shock decision to call a snap presidential election for December 17. This…
Feeding Britain, a new report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger and Food Poverty, has been greeted with some fanfare. It details the full extent of the UK’s food poverty crisis and urges…
The Autumn Statement was supposed to be a celebratory moment for the coalition government – with its deficit-reduction strategy nearing completion and the 2015 election on the horizon, pre-election giveaways…
When he delivers his autumn statement later today, George Osborne will inevitably highlight any good economic news he can. With a general election barely five months away he will ride the jeers of Labour…
Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer will aim to deliver an election-winning financial package on Wednesday. But he will effectively have one arm tied behind his back. It wasn’t meant to turn out this…
Northern Ireland is engaged in another round of high level talks involving the British, Irish and US governments to resolve the latest political impasse at Stormont. In the shadow of these sensitive discussions…
In Austerity Britain, few cutbacks capture the public ire like those directed towards the beloved NHS. In the public consciousness at least, it seems the NHS must remain outside the whims of party politics…
When discussing the state of the economy, politicians deploy two key tricks. First, get your excuses in early. Second, take all the credit for any good news but blame others for any bad news. David Cameron…
Those of us that follow the mainstream media encounter information but few genuine insights. Recently one jumped off the page at me in a Financial Times piece. In an otherwise undistinguished endorsement…
Usually when great national institutions are perceived as being under threat people start to get anxious. And as we know, anxious people can sometimes do strange things. Sometimes they announce grand but…
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has just released its latest report card on child well-being in 41 rich countries. In particular, the report looks at the effects of the economic crisis on children…
Public sector workers have been taking to the streets protesting the below-inflation pay rises and austerity. The Trades Union Congress hoped this would send a clear message to the British government…
The Brazilian presidential election of 2014 has so far thrown up more surprises and plot twists than a telenovela. In the first round ballot on October 5 the left of centre incumbent, Dilma Rousseff of…
One of the Conservative Party’s major promises to emerge in its party conference was the promise of tax cuts to reduce the burden of government on hardworking families who do the right thing. Many critics…