http://fistfulofeuros.net/ Purity of race does not exist. Europe is a continent of energetic mongrels. - H.A.L. Fisher]]> en-us 2004-04-01T20:58:21+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000504.php Ageing populations 'will create crippling debt': at least this is how one of today's Financial Times headlines reporting on the latest Standard & Poor's assesment of OECD sovereign debt dynamics has it. In fact the article says S&P argue that:... Life in Europe Edward Hugh 2004-04-01T20:58:21+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000523.php Update: The ECB has now announced that it will leave rates unchanged for another month. This in my view is a mistake, essentially putting off the inevitable for another month - unless, that is, Trichet has info that tomorrow's US... Economics Edward Hugh 2004-04-01T12:05:55+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000521.php Andy Young over at Siberian Light has an interesting post about the Khodorkovsky open letter.I can’t quite decide what to make of his critique of liberalism. It is obviously an attempt to destroy the last vestiges of liberalism in Russia... Politics in Europe Edward Hugh 2004-04-01T09:31:46+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000520.php Kofi Annan has announced that the UN is to proceed with the referendum on April 24 despite an apparent lack of agreement. One week into talks at the Swiss Alpine resort of Buergenstock, Annan has simply put his best face... Politics in Europe Edward Hugh 2004-04-01T08:49:19+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000516.php As the rest of Europe wonders if the French elections prove the old adage that in all countries the government lies to the electorate, but in France the electorate lies to the government, John Kay in the today's FT offers... Life in Europe Matthew Turner 2004-03-31T10:05:02+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000514.php In its assessment of the debacle for Chirac/Raffarin in this weekend's French regional elections the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung asked one pretty pertinent question: "'are European societies capable of stomaching unpleasant reforms?' " Certainly the evidence would seem to make... Politics in Europe Edward Hugh 2004-03-30T14:20:58+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000513.php Kieran Healy notes that CT now has the numbers to field a rugby side. Down in the comments, Cryptic Ned asks: When’s the home-and-home against Fistful of Euros set for? Some other stuff Mrs Tilton 2004-03-30T11:33:00+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000511.php German President Johannes Rau cancelled the last leg of his nine-day trip to Africa because of credible indications that he would be attacked by terrorists. Given that he was scheduled to stop in Djibouti, where German soldiers are serving in... Current events Dough Merrill 2004-03-29T22:17:26+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000510.php Pondicherry is in the news. The former French colony, handed over to India in 1954, has just become the lastest cause celebre in 'the great outsourcing debate'. Under the evocative title: Once they were French colonies, now they call back... Outsourcing Edward Hugh 2004-03-29T15:24:11+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000508.php The fumes are billowing thick and hot in Berlin. The two parties that make up Germany's governing coalition are at a standoff. Jürgen Trittin, the Green environment minister, plans to introduce emissions trading, and wants to achieve an initial reduction... Politics in Europe Mrs Tilton 2004-03-29T13:26:49+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000507.php Last year, reading around a bit to try to come to grips with Islamic terrorism, and the mindset that drives it, I read Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples. Published in 1998, it's a bit of a seqel... Some other stuff Dough Merrill 2004-03-27T19:01:25+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000497.php Just a quick follow up to my recent post on German outsourcing. I fear the issue rather got lost in an interesting, if secondary, topic in the comments section. One reader was, however kind enought to draw this article to... Outsourcing Edward Hugh 2004-03-25T13:01:00+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000495.php Italian consumer confidence has remained near a 10-year low in March in the wake of the Madrid terrorist bombings. In fact the bombings may have hurt sentiment in Italy more than the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. according to... Economics Edward Hugh 2004-03-24T17:06:55+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000492.php Well, well, this was hardly unexpected. In fact the reality may well be that this time there is plenty of smoke but no fire, since Siemens has announced it has no concrete plans to move 10,000 jobs abroad. Indeed much... Outsourcing Edward Hugh 2004-03-23T16:11:26+01:00 http://fistfulofeuros.net/archives/000491.php William Pfaff, a writer who wrote about European-American relations and the challenges of perceived unchallenged US global leadership well before the Iraq induced and war-blogged "transatlantic rift", may have indeed listened to Carly Simon when he wrote his not too... TobiasS 2004-03-23T15:37:23+01:00