In an effort to stem the deepening collapse from the Greece Sovereign Debt crisis, finance ministers from the European Union agreed on a deal that would provide $560 billion in new loans and $76 billion under an existing lending program. Elena Salgado, the Spanish finance minister, who announced the deal, also said the International Monetary Fund was prepared to give up to $321 billion separately.
On April 27, a little-noticed hearing took place on Capitol Hill regarding an important and controversial issue that has been a sore spot in U.S.-Russian relations for some time: the status of the historic Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Not only is this issue worth examining for its effect on the Obama Administration’s “Russian Reset” agenda, it is […]
The role of U.S. films in cultural diplomacy is not new, nor is the distribution of American films around the globe. But those phenomena bear a reexamination every once in a while. In this case, it is through the movie Shrek,a worldwide blockbuster (with various sequels and spin-offs). That big green ogre has something to […]
Here are some of my favourite reads from the week, focusing on maternal health in honour of Mother’s Day: State of the World’s Mothers was released on Tuesday by Save the Children. The report ranks 160 countries in terms of where it is best and worst to be a mom. Norway is at the top […]
Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother. -Lin Yutang, Chinese writer Today is more than a day to celebrate your Mother, it is a day to celebrate all women. It is women around the globe who give new life and hope to the world. Women who raise future leaders, […]
On May 30 Colombia will hold elections to decide who will govern the country the next four years. Last February, after the Constitutional Court of Colombia banned President Álvaro Uribe from seeking a second reelection, it appeared that the race would be defined by voters choosing among two candidates who sought to present themselves as […]
I told one of my classes last week, after the Gulf of Mexico disaster, that the next time I heard someone talk about the romance of the internal combustion engine, I was going to deck them. As with coal, so with oil. (See last post below.) We don’t need it, and the sooner we transition […]
Today May 8, 2010 is World Fair Trade Day Fair Trade is a global issue and it affects each and everyone of us on a daily basis. More than looking at the world through a lens of more organic and healthy food…it is the way to a sustainable future for all of the worlds children. […]
Time for another roundup of great stories I’m not great enough to get to. The immediate response mechanism of Twitter and other instant tech systems can be good for our altruistic side, too, whatever it might cost when… I’m sorry, what were we talking about? Some great old tech commercials. Ah, those were the days. […]
Big news from the FCC, America’s telecom regulator. Their feisty and energetic chair Julius Genachowski is planning to put some serious teeth back into Internet regulations. A while ago the Supreme Court shot down the primary foundation for FCC regulation of broadband technologies. One of the most visible likely casualties of unfettered ISPs pursuing unlimited profit guided […]
I wrote a couple of weeks ago that we most certainly can eliminate coal-fired power plants. Well, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), we not only can, we’re on that track now. How? The answer lies partly in the switch to natural gas. The FT quotes the EIA here: “… in 2009, the […]
In a follow-up to my previous post, Can the Congo Provide All their Children with Primary Education?, I wanted to share the following op-ed in The Huffington Post. The piece was written by Desmond Tutu and Dennis Van Roekel, who is the President of the National Education Association. Desmond Tutu spoke downheartedly on our lack […]
Previous posts this week have drawn attention to the big issue hanging over the Nuclear Nonproliferation review conference this week in New York–whether China will support stronger sanctions against Iran—and to China’s indebtedness to all those who have nonproliferation at heart. But why is it important to slow Iran’s nuclear program? Can sanctions actually work? […]
How unwieldy Europe is to manage! How difficult it is for EU institutions to act… Bruce Kasman, Chief Economist of JPM, whom I remember from my years at the New York Federal Reserve in the early 90s where he was an international economist, said this morning in a conference call that the main risk to […]
Jobs expanded in April, with the American private sector back with a vengeance. But medium-term risks abound, especially regarding very weak public finances at the federal, state and local levels due to the massive economic rescue enacted last year. Governments at every level in this country must put forward credible deficit-reduction plans, albeit cautiously, or this […]