Few were imagining last week how Europe’s finances would look like in just a couple of days. As a matter of fact, last Tuesday I was disagreeing with Michael Berendt’s entry on Blogactiv, while claiming that Eurozone (and Europe in general) will have to face the storm really soon. And so they did. Mr. Berendt himself acknowledged his hasty judgment! To (over)simplify things, the subprime crisis sent American banks into bankruptcy, which consequently did the same with European ones. Germany gave out state guarantees for all private savings accounts, and other European countries followed suit. Moreover, Ireland offered similar guarantees for corporate actors; simply put, the state nationalized banks and other financial institutions. Surreal in 21st century Europe, isn’t it? Continue reading ‘Europe’s Financial Crisis – The Basics’
Tag Archive for 'John McCain'
Europe’s Financial Crisis – The Basics
Obama and the World: A Sham?
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAhb06Z8N1c&eurl=http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/obamaroadblog/gGxyFs[/video]
I have openly declared my admiration for Barack Obama before (here and here). I have always been very much preoccupied with the prospects of changes in American foreign policy – especially with respect to its ties with Europe and global organizations. I remember disagreeing with Antal Daniel, a Blogactiv blogger, on this issue. While I’ve always felt that Obama as president would mean a total shift of paradigm in world affairs, both this article written by Obama himself a year ago and his recent visit to Berlin make me think twice before claiming this. The story with the visit goes pretty much along these lines: Obama was more of a rock star than a politician, with extatic crowds of 200000 people cheering for him, and with a speech that reminded everybody of the messianic figures of the American nation (i.e. Kennedy and Reagan). Continue reading ‘Obama and the World: A Sham?’