The strong opposition of Russia, the common sense of the American President, effectively avoided a conflict that Saudi Arabia and France had decided to start.
The burden of adjustment is being disproportionately placed on peripheral European countries, exacerbating extremely high unemployment. What is extraordinary is that the criticism should come from the US government before it is raised by the European Commission.
The only electoral promise Fidesz has fulfilled has been the “restoration of order”, through a myriad of laws, decrees and regulations, a particularly harsh new Penal Code and several new organizations.
The minimum wage is one of the few areas of bipartisan consensus. Yet the corporate lobbies have been fierce, and largely successful, in their opposition to any increase in the minimum wage.
It is not alarmist to see a potential clash between Chinese leaders’ desire to extend their regional power and American leaders’ determination to maintain their Post Cold War role as the world’s policemen.
The austerity policies imposed by Berlin and Brussels are inspired by the (mistaken) idea that the whole euro area may become a export-led economy like Germany.
