Trump, the Dragon, and the Minotaur – Project Syndicate op-ed

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Screen Shot 2016-01-28 at 16.54.28Screen Shot 2016-11-28 at 18.31.37.pngATHENS – If Donald Trump understands anything, it is the value of bankruptcy and financial recycling. He knows all about success via strategic defaults, followed by massive debt write-offs and the creation of assets from liabilities. But does he grasp the profound difference between a developer’s debt and the debt of a large economy? And does he understand that China’s private debt bubble is a powder keg under the global economy? Much hinges on whether he does… [To read on click here]

DiEM25’s internal Brexit Process Referendum is on – analysis & open call

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Democracy starts at home! So, at DiEM25 we decide on the movement’s important policy positions by means of an internal vote/referendum that follows a free and frank internal exchange. Below you will find the four options that our members are currently voting for (there will be a runoff vote if none of them secure 50% of the votes plus 1). You will also find a briefing on the state-of-play with the Brexit process (or is it shambles?).

  • Click here a pdf copy of post-Brexit analysis/briefing
  • If you want to see other points of view expressed by DiEM25 members and join the debate at the Post-Brexit DiEM25 Forum, you will need to become a member first (click here, then click ‘Participate’ and ‘Join In’) and then proceed to the Forum.
  • If you want just to take a quick look at the four options DiEM25 members are voting amongst, …

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BRUSSEL’s APPEAL FOR LESS AUSTERITY: An irrelevant proposal by an irrelevant Commission

Posted on by yanisv
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So, the European Commission, at last, concluded that the eurozone’s fiscal stance is too austerian. “Better late than never”, some will say. Alas, this is too optimistic a take. The reason? The Commission is irrelevant and it knows it. Decisions of fiscal policy are now taken in the eurogroup where Commissioner Moscovici has next to no gravitas. Moreover, the Commission seems to know this, putting forward a proposal that it knows will be ignored. Continue reading →

Angela Merkel’s last chance to deliver a Speech of Hope for Europe – Hamburg Keynote (audio), 15 NOV 2016

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On the same day that I addressed an audience of more than 1000 DiEM25 members in Hamburg, I was also kindly invited by Joachim and Renate Pawlik to address the Pawlik Group‘s Annual Conference. In my Keynote Address to the business representatives attending, I spoke of the need for a radical unionist campaign to counter the ubiquitous rise of xenophobic nationalism. And I dared suggest that this most DiEM25-like campaign should be kickstarted with the Speech of Hope for Europe. “Who should deliver it”, I asked. “Of all politicians that can pull it off”, I suggested “the only one standing is Angela Merkel. It is her last chance to leave behind a legacy of the European leader that saved the European project.”

FOR THE KEYNOTE CLICK BELOW

FOR THE Q&A THAT FOLLOWED CLICK BELOW

New Statesman interview: The Left’s duty after Trump’s awful victory

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I had no doubt Donald Trump would win, just like I had no doubt Brexit would happen, so maybe I’m not as shell-shocked as you,” says Yanis Varoufakis. The former Greek finance minister is speaking to me several days after the Republican candidate’s historic victory. He doesn’t sound smug about being so prescient, more resigned, deflated, defeated. The left has been here before. Continue reading →

Trump, our post-modern 1930s and DiEM25’s moment

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[Originally published here]

The election of Donald Trump symbolises the demise of a remarkable era. It was a time when we saw the curious spectacle of a superpower, the US, growing stronger because of – rather than despite – its burgeoning deficits. It was also remarkable because of the sudden influx of two billion workers – from China and Eastern Europe – into capitalism’s international supply chain. This combination gave global capitalism a historic boost, while at the same time suppressing Western labour’s share of income and prospects. Continue reading →

Why America still matters

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Screen Shot 2016-11-10 at 14.08.38.pngWhy is America still important? Below I copy the answer I gave in 2011 in the last chapter of The Global Minotaur: America, Europe and the Future of the World Economy. (For those not familiar with the economic meaning of my Minotaur allegory, read this.) Today, as the Trump Presidency looms, I fear that that conclusion is even more pertinent… 

[Excerpt from Chapter 9] Continue reading →

Resisting Resentment Politics Down Under – guest post by Paul Tyson

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How owning our Resentment can save Australian Politics

In this piece, Paul Tyson, honourary Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, outlines his take on the rise of rightwing populist resentment, as a powerful political force, from an Australian perspective.

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Trump’s Triumph: DiEM25 on how progressives must react

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Donald Trump’s victory marks the end of an era when a self-confident Establishment preached the end of history, the end of passion and the supremacy of a technocracy working on behalf of the 1%. But the era it ushers in is not new. It is a new variant of the 1930s, featuring deflationary economics, xenophobia and divide-and-rule politics.

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