-
Europe’s richer nations, led by Germany, resist institutionalizing any substantial flow of money toward Greece apart from a modest amount of development aid long made available to Europe’s poorer regions for specific projects. In Germany, the notion of a so-called transfer union, which many economists see as essential to any enduring common currency, is still firmly resisted. […] As in the euro zone, there are questions even within Britain about the value of its union. But they are driven more by political and cultural divisions than monetary ones. The Scottish national leader Alex Salmond is pushing for a vote that might provide Scotland independence from Britain, while remaining vague on whether the Scots should then abandon the pound to adopt the euro.
“The Welsh Economy Slips, but London Cushions the Fall” by Landon Thomas, Jr. in the New York Times. The article discusses why monetary union appears to work well within Great Britain, but doesn’t work well in Europe.Source:
-
How A Computer Scientist Tried To Save Greece
In her piece “How A Computer Scientist Tried To Save Greece”, Chana Joffe-Walt describes the efforts of Diomidis Spinellis to retrieve taxes owed to the Greek government, the lack of which has forced Greece into its current debt crisis. This article shows an excellent example of how technocrats are hampered by factors outside of the domain of the problem they are addressing. You can create accountability, but without a sense of responsibility coming from local culture, this approach is doomed to fail.
Lest we forget that our ability to reason is what separates us from the other animals
Field Notes Theme. Designed by Manasto Jones. Powered by Tumblr.
