Category Archives: austerity

French election heats up: Hollande and Sarkozy neck and neck with Mélenchon in third Le Pen close behind

Posted on April 15, 2012 by haroldchorneyeconomist

The French Presidential election taking place amidst the turmoil and deprivation unleashed by the crash and failed austerity approach of the European leadership is turning into a very interesting contest. It would seem with only a week to go before … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, France politics+economy, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Vive le Québec social et progressif ! : the conflict over higher university tuition fees in Québec

Posted on April 14, 2012 by haroldchorneyeconomist

There has been a significant clash over values and higher education taking place in Québec over the past few weeks. There is an on going student strike and there  have been daily demonstrations at many of the university campuses in … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, Canada, fiscal policy, full employment, progressives, Québec, Uncategorized, unemployment | Leave a comment

On Debt follies and deficit hysteria:intelligent voices from the past

Posted on April 12, 2012 by haroldchorneyeconomist

Among the many 1000 books in my library is a macro economics text, Macroeconomics:The measurement,analysis and control of aggregate economic activity, 3rd edition from 1968 written by Thomas Dernburg who was then  Professor of Economics at Oberlin college and Duncan … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, Greek sovereign debt crisis, Italian debt crisis, J.M.Keynes, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

American unemployment rate drops to 8.2 % but job creation still unsatisfactory

Posted on April 9, 2012 by haroldchorneyeconomist

The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics reported last week that the unemployment rate fell to 8.2 % . But the total number of new jobs added was a disappointing 83,000 below what the market had been expecting so bearish sentiment … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, business cycles, fiscal policy, full employment, U.S., Uncategorized, unemployment | Leave a comment

Eurozone Unemployment rises to 10.8%, 17.134 million unemployed.

Posted on April 2, 2012 by haroldchorneyeconomist

Eurostat has released the latest unemployment data for the Eurozone 17. It does not make for pleasant reading. Because of the foolish contractionary  austerity policies being implemented there, as expected unemployment is rising. It is now  10 % in France, … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, business cycles, deficit hysteria, European unemployment, full employment, Uncategorized, unemployment | Leave a comment

S+P Downgrade Warning on European Sovereign Debt May throw Spanner in the Works

Posted on December 5, 2011 by haroldchorneyeconomist

When it really counted in the past in the lead-up to the financial crisis S+P and other ratings agencies failed to warn about the quality or lack thereof of the asset backed financial derivatives that caused so much disaster in … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, classical economics, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, European financial stability fund, Greek sovereign debt crisis, Italian debt crisis, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Trade balances, debt to GDP and unemployment rates of some European countries of interest

Posted on November 9, 2011 by haroldchorneyeconomist

Trade as a percentage of the GDP and unemployment rates selected European countries, and debt to GDP ratios. X                     Country                     … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, balance of payments, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, European financial stability fund, Greek sovereign debt crisis, Italian debt crisis, J.M.Keynes, Uncategorized, unemployment | Leave a comment

Currency unions and balance of payments: what lies behind the Greek predicament

Posted on November 7, 2011 by haroldchorneyeconomist

One of the relatively unexplored aspects of the Greek debt crisis involves balance of payments issues that are buried beneath the terms of trade upon which Greece entered the European union. Much has been said and written about failure to … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, balance of payments, classical economics, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, fiscal policy, full employment, Greek sovereign debt crisis, J.M.Keynes, monetary policy, quantity theory of money, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Papandreou to resign and new coalition government involving Pasok, New Democracy and two conservative minor parties to take his place under new PM

Posted on November 6, 2011 by haroldchorneyeconomist

The latest news from Greece suggests that a new coalition government involving the Greek socialist party, Pasok, the principal opposition party New Democracy led by Antonis Samoras, and two conservative minor parties  is to replace the Government of George Papandreou. … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, classical economics, deficit hysteria, European debt crisis, Greek sovereign debt crisis, J.M.Keynes, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

George Papandreou has won the non confidence vote

Posted on November 4, 2011 by haroldchorneyeconomist

Prime Minister George Papandreou has won the vote of non confidence in the Greek Parliament by a margin of 153 to 145  votes .Papandreou will now seek to form some sort of cross party government to broaden the base of … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, European financial stability fund, Greek sovereign debt crisis, Mr.Papandreou and democracy, Uncategorized | Leave a comment