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Civil War on the Egyptian Horizon

Global News Blog / IPS Mel Frykberg CAIRO, Dic 14 (IPS) – Egypt is facing its worst political crisis since the January 2011 revolution ousted former dictator Hosni Mubarak, with analysts warning of a possible civil war. Furthermore, unlike during the revolution, opposition to the current regime is bitterly divided between Islamists and more secular [...]

Bicycling to Work in Rio de Janeiro

Global News Blog / IPS Fabiana Frayssinet RIO DE JANEIRO, Dic 14 (IPS) – The cyclists riding in the bicycle lanes along the beachfront avenue of this Brazilian city pass the car drivers stuck in rush hour traffic.The Rio de Janeiro city authorities are encouraging this simple, cheap and non-polluting solution for the growing problems [...]

Unregulated Drug Market Has Deadly Impact in Pakistan

Global News Blog / IPS Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, Dic 14 (IPS) – When 26-year-old Muhammad Qasim, a rickshaw driver from Lahore’s low-income Shahadra settlement, died last month, his family was shocked to learn that the cause of death was an overdose – of cough syrup.On Nov. 23, shortly before going to bed, Qasim drank a [...]

Washington Struggles for Relevance as Assad’s Fall Approaches

Global News Blog / IPS Samer Araabi WASHINGTON, Dic 14 (IPS) – This week, the United States officially recognised the newly-formed National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, culminating a two-year process of legitimising the Syrian opposition with the U.S. government.However, as rebels advance ever-closer to the [...]

OP-ED: A Universal Climate Change Agreement Is Necessary and Possible

Global News Blog / IPS Christiana Figueres UNITED NATIONS, Dic 14 (IPS) – The results of the United Nations climate change conference that closed in Doha, Qatar on Dec. 8 show once again that the international negotiations are moving steadily in the right direction, but alarmingly slow.At the heart of these negotiations is nothing less [...]

Murky Politics in the South China Sea

Global News Blog / IDN By Melissa M. Cyrill* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis NEW DELHI (IDN | IDSA) – The last two years have witnessed a heady interplay of inter-state disputes and constant strategic manoeuvring, if not intrigue, in the South China Sea (SCS). Beyond anything else, it gives the world a sure glimpse of the possibility [...]

No Women, No Elections

Global News Blog / IPS Brian Ngugi NAIROBI, Dic 14 (IPS) – Kenya’s rights activists are furious that the country’s highest court “violated” women’s constitutional rights by ruling against the implementation of a gender quota in parliament ahead of the 2013 general elections.Activists here are threatening to boycott the Mar. 4, 2013 elections and bring [...]

Some Côte d’Ivoire Women Don’t Want Joint Responsibility for Family

Global News Blog / IPS Fulgence Zamblé ABIDJAN, Dic 14 (IPS) – After 17 years of women struggling for parity with men in the household, Côte d’Ivoire’s legislature has finally adopted a law which establishes equal responsibility for legally married spouses. But not everyone is happy.The law has sparked angry debate in this West African [...]

Multilateralism is at a Crossroads

Global News Blog / IPS Pascal Lamy GENEVA, Sep 27 (IPS) – Multilateralism is at a crossroads. This is a crucial matter for environmental and sustainability issues, as we have seen in the Rio+20 Summit, and for trade and other economic matters. The G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, focused precisely on improving our collective [...]

‘Do More to Solve Pressing Crises’

Global News Blog  / IDN By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsReport GENEVA (IDN) – As a result of widespread insecurity, the squandering of vast funds on deadly weapons instead of economic development, and the growing impact of climate change, the world today is in a race against time to save itself. Sounding this alarm at the [...]

Noteworthy Headlines & Links

Lousy Deal on the Edge of the Cliff

The deal emerging from the Senate is a lousy one. Let me count the ways. See on www.huffingtonpost.com

Fiat Panda: car review

It may look cute and cuddly, but the latest generation of the Fiat Panda is ready to kick some butt Alan Frederick Fogelquist‘s insight: But where is it made and how much are the workers who put it together paid? Where are its components made? What nation or corporate entitity profits most from this little [...]

Real Political Economy Notes

Goals and Purpose of Real Political Economy Notes Notes, sources, and perspectives on real political… Alan Frederick Fogelquist‘s insight: Real Political Economy Notes represents an effort to uncover and present real facts and valid assumptions based on balanced factual review rather than flawed or false assumptions derived from mythical or imagined evidence. Reality and valid [...]

Tesco spends £9m on private jets for bosses

Britain’s biggest supermarket has paid out £28m flying executives around the world in private jets since 2005 See on www.guardian.co.uk

Banking: thousands of customers switch their accounts out of the big five

Building societies, credit unions and co-operatives benefit as anger over scandals turns to action See on www.guardian.co.uk

Colombian Landowners, Peasants Listen to Each Other

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Constanza Vieira BOGOTA, Dic 20 (IPS) – Colombia’s large-scale agricultural producers and peasant farmers managed to listen to each other for the first time about the core cause of the… See on globalgeopolitics.net

Reality economics | Michael Hudson

A review of Norbert Häring and Niall Douglas, Economists and the Powerful (London: Anthem Press, 2012). “Whom the gods would destroy, they first…   “This abusive character of wealth and power is not what mainstream economic models describe. That is why economic theory is broken. The concept of diminishing marginal utility implies that the rich [...]

Obama Will Ride to the Rescue … for Republicans

If ever there was a time to press progressive priorities this would be it. So, this will be a true test of who he is and what he believes. Let’s see what he does. You shall know him by his works. See on www.huffingtonpost.com

Playing Taxes Hold ’Em

For a change, progressives can give thanks to the G.O.P. crazies this year. See on www.nytimes.com

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF HOURLY COMPENSATION COST IN MANUFACTURING, 2011

Alan Frederick Fogelquist‘s insight: Summary: In comparison with 33 foreign countries covered, U.S. manufacturing hourly compensation costs in 2011 ranked approximately in the middle at $35.53, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today (see chart 1). In addition to Australia, Canada, Italy, and Japan, countries with higher hourly compensation costs were primarily in northern [...]

U.S. Banks Lack Liquidity to Withstand Crisis, Study Says

U.S. banks representing more than half the industry’s assets need an additional $840 billion in cash on hand to cover short-term obligations if financial markets seize up again, according to a study. (@Numerologynow: Deservedly so… See on www.bloomberg.com

Presenting America’s Top Ten Greediest of 2012 | Inequality.org

The ten most avaricious on this year’s list remind us just how much needs to change, economically and politically, in the year that beckons ahead. By Sam Pizzigati The essence of greed? Simple. Greed amounts to taking more than you need when you already have enough — and others don’t. Who among us, by this [...]

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Stephanie Kelton on Modern Monetary Theory’s Goals for Full Employment and Government Deficits

Alan Frederick Fogelquist‘s insight:

Kelton points out some little recognized but critical aspects of monetary and fiscal institutions and their potential to promote full employment or counteract recession in countries that have sovereign control of their macroeconomiic institutions, something that is lacking in the crisis-stricken nations of the eurozone. This short video presents the insights of MMT in a clear concise fashion.

This analysis doesn’t account for nor does it claim to account for every aspect of a multidimensional reality. Other dimensions that would also need to be addressed in a comprehensive and equitable effort to end the great recession include control and reorganization of speculative financial institutions or measures to address zero-sum globalization and the decline of manufacturing and technological capacity in developed societies resulting from race-to-the-bottom competition and disadvantageous application of free trade dogma in some countries along-side state support for manufacturing exports and hidden protection in other countries. Nor does MMT address the problem of offshore outsourcing of technology and highly skilled labor, again to lower wage areas. Another issue that should be addressed in  connection with macroeconomic policy should be cancellation of large amounts of debt to private speculative financial institutions.

Nevertheless MMT macroeconomic policy analysis should be a major tool in equitable economic recovery rather than counterproductive and regressive austerity economics.

See on www.youtube.com