Category Archives: Uncategorized

It was natural that a platform like that of the Syriza party would emerge in Greece. Essentially: “We’ll do all the right things (confront our creditors, etc etc), and you don’t have to part company with the euro.” After all, who would want to substitute their euros with an inferior money? Certainly not Greeks. This is the […]

A response to Ewan Morrison’s “Yes: Why I joined and why I changed to No“.Ewan Morrison discusses why he was turned off the Yes campaign. To summarize, as faithfully as I can:(1) Morrison joined the Yes camp in the hope of finding some debate. Instead he got rah-rah. People were not interested in hearing awkward questions […]

The subtext of some of the key arguments against a ‘Yes’ vote is infantalising. For example:‘You shouldn’t be supporting a vainglorious leader/party’ i.e. Alex Salmond/SNP. ‘You won’t have a currency union, and there’s no Plan B’. Even if these are true (and the second one certainly is), why is that a reason to vote ‘No’? Basically […]

European monetary union represents a major step on the road to European integration. The euro will promote not only economic prosperity but also political stability by leading to intensified cooperation among the countries of Europe, a stronger focus on common interests and the establishment of common institutions to help solve conflicts. Deutsche Bank Research (1998), […]

In 1957 in his classic book The Breakdown of Nations economist and political scientist Leopold Kohr persuasively and rigorously argued that small nations are the natural order having been throughout history the engines for enlightenment, innovation, mutual aid and the arts.  The large nation state, he argued, is not a reflection of improved efficiency but […]

I can’t say how I’d vote “if I were a Scot”. If I were a Scot, I wouldn’t be me. But I can tell you my opinion: Yes; for independence. Better still, I can address the currency question.On the politics, George Mombiot makes the case in I’d vote yes to rid Scotland of its feudal landowners and Scots voting no to independence would […]

Click here for the PDF of slides of my talk on the Euro-area crisis and its parallels in the Great Depression. Click here for the MP3 audio file accompanying these slides. Note: After the first couple of minutes, I do state which slide I’m referring to — at around Slide 5.

There’s a reason he’s been called Krugtron. Oppose him at your peril. Nevertheless, I’d personally play down the ‘financial catastrophe’ angle of failure to raise the debt ceiling. Krugman in today’s NYT: “it looks quite possible that default would create a huge financial crisis”.I think it would certainly hurt from a GDP point of view, through the […]