Italy – Labour reforms need to tackle youth unemployment

I recently came across an interesting article with the title Dangermen – Labour reform in Italy which laid out the many challenges the new Italian prime minister Mario Monti has to face. One of the most pressing problems is the unacceptable high unemployment rate among young people (15-24 years old) which is above 30 percent in Italy with Portugal, Spain and Greece performing evenly badly or worst (see link for graph). He is pushing for reforms to make the labour market more flexible and to encourage companies to take on new employees. This won’t be easy. He is up against all sorts of interests that benefit from the status quo and therefore seek to preserve it.

Greece – First injury then insult

No doubt, Greece is in a precarious situation. Years of easy money, poor economic performance and an appalling level of governmental mismanagement have pushed the country right to the brink of collapse. To get out of this mess won’t be easy. It is going to be a painful journey. Nobody knows that better than the Greeks themselves. They also know that they need assistance. To ask for help is seldom easy and often distressing. The so-called Troika (IMF, ECB, EU) added insult to injury with the way it bullied the Greek government under Lucas D. Papademos into a deal which most economists agree will not work, because it is based on assumptions that are far too optimistic. Greece is expected to grow vigorously by 2014 out of tin air.

Ireland – Comment: Enda Kenny in Washington

English: Taoiseach Enda Kenny with US President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Enda Kenny met with Barack Obama at the White House during the St.Patrick‘s Celebrations. After performing friendly exchanges Obama confirmed his intent to visit Ireland in May this year. What an eventful month this is going to be since the English Queen Elizabeth II will also come to town. The former will receive an enthusiastic and warm welcoming from the local crowd, the latter less so. He will be loved, she will be respected.

Japan – Comment: Earthquake, Tsunami, Nuclear Disaster

English: The after the (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I keep watching the broadcasts from Japan (Fukushima). I see the pictures. I read the reports. But I am still struggling to comprehend the extent of the nuclear disaster. Many lives have been lost. For all advances in research and technology human beings remain vulnerable creatures when nature flexes its muscles. Earthquakes and tsunamis are natural phenomenons that we can predict with some certainty but not prevent from happening.

A nuclear disaster by contrast is a self-inflicted catastrophe in my opinion. The risks involved are known but were ether ignored or misjudged. Nature has got nothing to do with it. Men decided to built those power plants. Men must rethink and reverse this decision. I believe the technology is available to produce energy environmental friendly. We also need to save energy where ever possible to make nuclear power obsolete.

No time to waste. Lets start right now.

Ireland – Results and Opinions: General Elections 2011

Enda Kenny making a speech in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin on the day of the count of the 2011 General Election, when Fine Gael topped the poll assuring that they will lead the incoming government. Kenny became Taoiseach on the 9 March 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The dust has settled. The Irish electorate voted for change. Fine Gael (FG) and Labour (LAB) have formed a coalition government. Fianna Fáil (FF) and the Greens got a hammering. That are the facts. But what are the implications?