Paul Krugman – A Manifesto for Economic Sense

Paul Krugman and Richard Layard, two economists, have launched a manifesto (please read the text in full which will take only few minutes, here) to promote policy change in order to put the current financial and economic crisis finally behind us. They argue that the cause of this crisis has been mis-diagnosed by policy makers. So there is little wonder that the wrong cure has been applied. They conclude:

Ökonomistischer Neusprech

Dieser Beitrag (von Götz Eisenberg, hier), der auf den NachDenkSeiten erschienen ist, ist nicht ‘nur’ lustig (aber auch). Er ist eine Satire auf eine Ökonomie, die den Bezug zur Realität verloren hat. Aus Konkretem ist längst Virtuelles oder Fiktives geworden. Der Einzug von nichtssagenden Worthülsen in das Vokabular dieser ‘neuen’ Arbeitswelt ist hierfür ein Beispiel. Deshalb:

Wenn wir den Wahnsinn der losgelassenen Ökonomie stoppen wollen, müssen wir nicht nur die Ramsch- und Woodoo-Papiere aus dem Verkehr ziehen, sondern wir werden uns auch die sprachlichen Leerverkäufe und Mogelpackungen wieder abgewöhnen und zu Worten mit Realitätsbezug und Körpergeruch zurückkehren müssen.

via Ökonomistischer Neusprech.

Documentary – Catastroika

I post the documentary ‘Catastroika’ here because I think it is important. It is important because what goes on in Greece is not without precedent. It happened before and it will happen somewhere else. It happens for a reason.

The killings of Falcone and Borsellino

20 years ago on May 23rd, 1992 judge Giovanni Falcone got blown up by the Sicilian Mafia. His wife Francesca was also killed in this blast, together with three security personnel. Only 57 days later on July 12th his friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino met the same fate in the streets of Palermo. Five bodyguards could not prevent his assassination and died with him. The new book by John Follain asked why  Falcone and Borsellino had to die? I would put the question another way: is there anything that could have obviated the murders?

Irish referendum on fiscal compact

I am watching RTE’s live stream (here) about the fiscal compact referendum (60% vs 40%). I am puzzled by the arguments of the victorious yes-side: since the referendum has been passed now, we need a growth strategy. Fair point. But how one stimulates an ailing economy? By putting more money in maybe? But where is that to come from? No answer. Silence. That’s not good enough I am afraid.