Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: After Austerity, austerity, euro, Europe, eurozone, fiscal prudence, fraud, fraudtastic, fraudtastic financial crisis, government, Greece, Ireland, joe stiglitz, migration area, Nobel Prize, optimal currency area, politics, Spain, Stiglitz, the austerity fairy, the confidence fairy
Pretty good little essay here from Joe Stiglitz.
[…]
Europe’s single-minded focus on austerity is a result of a misdiagnosis of its problems. Greece overspent, but Spain and Ireland had fiscal surpluses and low debt-to-GDP ratios before the crisis. Giving lectures about fiscal prudence is beside the point. Taking the lectures seriously – even adopting tight budget frameworks – can be counterproductive. Regardless of whether Europe’s problems are temporary or fundamental – the eurozone, for example, is far from an “optimal” currency area, and tax competition in a free-trade and free-migration area can erode a viable state – austerity will make matters worse.
[…]
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/after-austerity
Just listening to the news you’d think Spain and Ireland were deeply in debt prior to the fraudtastic financial crisis, but no.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brent, Brent crude, energy, Greece, Iran, North Sea, oil price, oil production, peak oil, price of oil, Reuters, WTI
Crude oil output from the North Sea, home of the global Brent benchmark, is set to fall in March for a third month due to maintenance work and natural aging of oilfields there.
Supply will average 2.18 million barrels per day in March, down 1.4 percent from 2.12 million bpd the previous month, data compiled by Reuters showed on Tuesday.
via Brent tops $120 on Iran, North Sea, Greece | Reuters.
This report was the product of at least four reporters and two editors.
Industrialized Cyclist Notepad 