Watch any TV programme in Britain where politicians are on display – and it’s clear that turning David Cameron’s new slogan ‘we can’t go on like this’ back on him and all the main parties sums up a popular mood. Disillusionment with politicians has fed into a deepening anger at the way in which the political establishment have been subservient to the filthy rich, from the unconditional and... Read more
As expected, the economic crisis has led to social unrest. Most workers have seen little result from the victory over the crisis that government officials and observers announced as far back as the middle of last year. In place of increases to production, employment and the standard of living, Russians have seen improvements to a few statistics and greater corporate profits. Meanwhile, the... Read more
Lecture at the Berlin International Economics Congress, 4-7 February 2010.
When the Arab emirate Dubai was on the verge of bankruptcy, the international financial speculators became worried. The rating agencies simultaneously came to correct their assessments. The bankers started to check if their debtors were solvent. Another financial crisis is in the air.It turned out that not only Ireland and Latvia, but also Greece and Spain face a default. Iceland has already... Read more
Despite all the statements from Russia’s leaders that the worst of the crisis is behind us and that we are seeing signs of an economic rebound, the crisis will not go away.No sooner had the government announced that the decline in manufacturing had ended than it resumed its decline, threatening to ruin the statistical picture at the worst possible moment — right before year-end results are... Read more
I know that many Democrats are reluctant to criticise the fiscal stimulus package out of a desire to support the President and not make the administration more vulnerable to Republican attacks. I understand that reluctance in the present political circumstances. However, it is also the case that the 'stimulus package' is not really a true Keynesian stimulus, as it was very much a composite... Read more
As expected, there was no big news from last week’s Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh. In contrast to the previous summit, the meeting was marked by excessively formal declarations and a lack of desire to discuss — much less find answers to — the underlying causes of the global economic crisis.There were plenty of generalizations and reassuring speeches about positive economic trends, but the... Read more
The subject of the global financial crisis is getting less and less interesting. Many articles about the crisis have been published and a lot of conclusions have already been drawn. It’s another matter that the conclusions differ from the decisions that are being made.Meanwhile, Russian officials as well as ordinary people would like to hear good news. It would be so nice to arrange a little... Read more
