The EU doom loop: Bank bailouts reveal true roots of crisis
Not excessive government spending but excessive bank lending lies at the root of the Eurozone crisis. By Jerome Roos.
Society
Claiming Our Future's Plan B: a viable alternative
Claiming Our Future outlined last night on the Tonight with Vincent Browne show it's Plan B, which includes a number of proposals that are viable alternatives to the Government's planned austerity budget in December ((watch below). One proposal that Vincent Browne questioned on his show includes investing funds from the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF).
Claiming a better future
We need to reclaim our future from a dismal repeat of the last few years, and Claiming our Future's Plan B has provided the roadmap. By Michael Taft.
Over the last four years we’ve heard the same mantra repeated on a daily basis: there is no alternative. Claiming our Future (CoF) challenges that dismal chant with the launch of its ‘Plan B: There is an alternative to austerity’. The plan involves three key principles:
And the good ship Greece sails on: A 'letter' to an Italian colleague
Europe's policy elites stay silent while Europe is burning, hoping against hope that the fire will put itself out,though they know that it will do no such thing. By Yanis Varoufakis.
Murder coverage betrays media's editorial agenda
Of the murders of two women in January 2011, one has got blanket coverage, the other only passing attention. By Vincent Browne.
The Catholic ethos and the scandal of symphysiotomy
Is there any group in Irish society more in need of moral guidance than those who purport to be the moral guardians, the Catholic bishops? By Vincent Browne.
Theresa Devoy's account of how she was subjected to symphysiotomy at the age of 18 in 1963, without her consent or knowledge, in barbarous circumstances and with awful consequences, was the most riveting interview I have conducted as a journalist.
The ESRI paper - Now you see it, now you don't
The ESRI working paper withdrawn yesterday suggests that the gap between social protection income and work is not the issue regarding job take-up. What it does show up is the weakness of the Irish welfare state, especially in comparison with other European countries. By Michael Taft.
The DIY constitutional convention
The idea of constitutionalising economic and social rights is nothing new – either here or abroad. While these kinds of rights won't be debated in the Government’s charade, they could be in a People’s Convention that is rooted in civil society. By Michael Taft.
Spain’s blood wedding, Ireland’s muted rage, Europe’s tragedy
Spain should have been the terrain on which to end the deadly embrace of public debt and banking losses that is bringing the Eurozone down. But Europe, in its infinite idiocy, decided against such action. By Yanis Varoufakis.
'Inequality - A failure of vision and values'
Delivering the 2012 TASC Annual Lecture in the Royal Irish Academy last night, social justice campaigner Fr Peter McVerry said that the mantra of the old economic model "more is better" must give way to "moderation and restraint".