Opinion

Violence Against Women Is Blocking Development Friday, February 21st, 2020

Viral Losses: Australian Universities, Coronavirus and Greed Thursday, February 20th, 2020

There are few things more richly deserved than the punishment of a profligate ruler who finds himself fending off a hungry citizenry. But such matters lie in the realm of government, elections, holding representative office. Universities, notably in Australia, are oblivious to accountability and..

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Reform or Revolution

The best-known modern revolutions have invariably been preceded by increasing polarization and an inability to solve pressing social and economic problems. Growing hostility and mistrust fuel protest, eventually leading to violence. Extremism increases because moderates find themselves forced to..

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Shelton the Charlatan Wednesday, February 19th, 2020

Back in September 1994, the Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman actually wrote about one of US President Donald Trump’s current nominees to serve on the Federal Reserve’s seven-member Board of Governors. “In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed piece,” Friedman observed, “Judy Shelton..

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“Leave Our Bloke Alone”: A Little Mission for Julian Assange Tuesday, February 18th, 2020

“I think that now it is time that the government I am a part of needs to be standing up and saying to both the UK and the US: ‘enough is enough, leave our bloke alone and let him come home.’” -George Christensen, Australian conservative MP, Sydney Morning Herald, Feb 19, 2020 An odd crew..

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Trump’s “Currency Manipulation” Con

Would you believe the following story if you heard it? Imagine a small, rural town with one general store that sells to, and buys from, the farmers living in the surrounding area. Owing to their large families, the farmers have been running up a tab at the store, and they now owe the store a great..

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Pariah India Monday, February 17th, 2020

After India launched far-reaching economic reforms in 1991, its stature in the world rose steadily. The country was already recognized as a thriving democracy and an example to the world of how to manage diversity in a free and open society. Its enhanced economic clout and the size of its..

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Corporate Occupations: The UN Business “Black List” and Israel’s Settlements

Mikhail Bakunin, in that charming anarchist tradition, regarded the state as an evil to be done away with. Such collective formations were criminal, oppressive, eviscerating to the individual. The corporation might be regarded as a similar collective, adopting and aping elements of the state with,..

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The Monetarist Fantasy Is Over

The forced resignation of the United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, is the latest sign that macroeconomic policy is being upended, and not only in the UK. In addition to completing the ritual burial of the austerity policies pursued by UK governments since 2010, Javid’s..

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Shut Down Canada Until it Solves its War, Oil, and Genocide Problem Saturday, February 15th, 2020

Indigenous people in Canada are giving the world a demonstration of the power of nonviolent action. The justness of their cause — defending the land from those who would destroy it for short term profit and the elimination of a habitable climate on earth — combined with their courage and the..

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The New Wave of Middle-East Media Repression Friday, February 14th, 2020

Since 2018, large antigovernment protests – what some term the Arab Spring 2.0 – have reverberated across the Middle East. Protesters decry corruption, sectarianism, and economic stagnation. Like the Arab uprisings a decade ago, these protests have successfully unseated key leaders – prime..

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Toward a New Iran Nuclear Deal

When Iran announced in January that it would further “reduce” its commitments under the 2015 deal limiting its nuclear activities, it was not responding to the United States’ assassination of Iranian Quds Force leader General Qassem Suleimani a few days earlier. But both developments..

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Comrade Trump Thursday, February 13th, 2020

“In just three short years,” US President Donald Trump declared in his recent State of the Union (SOTU) address, “we have shattered the mentality of American decline and we have rejected the downsizing of America’s destiny.” This baseless pronouncement – more propaganda than reality –..

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New Firms for a New Era Wednesday, February 12th, 2020

Firms are the cornerstone of the modern economy. The bulk of production, investment, innovation, and job creation takes place within them. Their decisions determine not only economic performance, but also the health and wellbeing of a society. But who should govern firms, and on whose behalf should..

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Trump’s Middle-East Mirage

Enough time has passed to read and digest all 180-plus pages of what the US government calls “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People.” It is also referred to (sometimes derisively) as “The Deal of the Century.” Or, more neutrally, it is..

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Europe Must Act Against US-Backed “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

In Europe, if you go to a public hospital seeking medical advice, you expect accurate, science-based information. You expect the staff attending you to be professionally trained and certified. You’d have similar expectations on university campuses, in schools, women’s shelters, or other..

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America’s Isolationist Default

Donald Trump’s “America First” policies are widely regarded as an abdication of global leadership, sounding the death knell of the post-World War II multilateral order that the United States shaped and sustained. There is much truth to this view. At the same time, this troubling turn..

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Is Global Climate Solidarity Impossible? Monday, February 10th, 2020

Despite the buzz around climate action at this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the world’s current environmental prospects look grim. There are three obstacles: climate-change denial; the economics of reducing greenhouse-gas (GHGs) emissions; and the politics of..

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The Coronavirus Will Not Cripple China’s Economy

Just five days before the Chinese New Year, the authorities in Beijing finally declared the coronavirus epidemic that originated in Wuhan to be a major public health emergency. Because Wuhan’s municipal government had initially withheld information and failed to control the virus effectively,..

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UNENDING VIEWS AND COUNTER VIEWS ON EDUCATION SYSTEM FOR SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN Saturday, February 8th, 2020

For the last several decades, there have been animated debates and discussions all over the world on what should be the ideal and best method of inculcating education and forward looking spirit, in the young children upto the age of fifteen years, which is considered as the formative years of..

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