The attacks on Nord Stream and the elephant in the room (tags)
In an interview with Berliner Zeitung, U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs said that destroying Nord Stream would be contrary to Russia's interests; the country would lose "income, financial assets & bargaining power." The U.S., would "benefit strategically and financially."
Was the policy of detente a political mistake? (tags)
Any NATO expansion that moves closer to Russia's borders must appear to Russian nationalists as a threat; to moderate Russians Bertram concludes, "It is therefore either thoughtless or dishonest to declare, as the West does, that NATO enlargement is inevitable."
The turn to less: Corona and the consumption dilemma (tags)
The Corona crisis could be the beginning of a better normality. Corona could make a turning point in history. The global North has benefited from unequal trade relations. Global employment has lost its role as the center of life. We must get out of the old path dependencies.
The US Superpower is Dangerous (tags)
Wars and threats of war are violations of the UN Charter. The US is not afraid of threatening military force in Europe and at the border with Russia. We are not living in a new world since the election of the new president.
The Missile Attack Ordered by Trump is a Serious Crime (tags)
Assad's regime defends itself against an international alliance that seeks his overthrow in violation of international law. Whoever wants to see Assad overthrown should answer the question whether we would rather see the Nusra Front in power.
What I Didn't Read in the TTIP Reading Room (tags)
Katja Kipping was one of the first German MPs to gain access to the new TTIP reading room opened in Berlin this week, and she has written up a report of her experience. We thought it was well worth translating from the original, ‘The Opposite of Transparency’.
Cochabamba: Water as a Human Right (tags)
The economy should be part of life, not a steamroller crushing self-determination and creativity. The TTIP, TPP and TISA trade agreements create a parallel private arbitration system that gives corporations special rights to sue states. Labor and environmental arein danger.
TTIP: Attack on Democracy and the Constitutional State (tags)
A mass demonstration is planned for Saturday October 10 in Berlin against the TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership. A parallel private ad hoc arbitration system is created where corporations can sue states for lost profitsLabor and environmental rules undermined
Israel
Patients are not Customers (tags)
Mainstream economics is always based on the idea of homo oeconomicus, an egoist who maximizes his own advantages. In economics, the extreme form of egoism is treated as rationality. July 30 was Medicare's 50th birthday and August 14 is Social Security's 80th birthday. Celebrate!
Myths of Free Trade: Attac Refutes TTIP Arguments (tags)
TTIP and CETA are far more than trade agreements. They help strengthen the power of transnational corporations and weaken democratic institutions. Attac promotes just trade instead of free trade. Labor rights, environmental standards and democracy must have priority...
Politics Faded Out the Constitutional Offensiveness of Trade Agreements (tags)
The arbitration jurisdiction with the ISDS mechanism is the most controversial point of the two trade agreements. US corporations could file lawsuits against the German prohibition of gas production through fracking. Public interest laws could be stylized as "indirect expropriation."
Fast Track, TPP and TTIP Should Be Scrapped! (tags)
How scandalous that communities and states should lose sovereignty to corporations! In the TTIP, corporations can sue states for lost profits. Public interest legislation can be called a trade barrier or indirect expropriation.
Democracy for Sale: Stop Fast Track and TTIP! (tags)
The investment protection clause of the TTIP grants investors special protection regarding their so-called :"legitimate expectation." Businesses can sue when they feel restricted in their business activity by new laws in the public interest. Financial services are an important sector for US investors.
The European Commission suspended the secret TTIP negotiations for four months to get citizen consultation on the Investor-State-Dispute SettlementThis proposed parallel system with 3-person courts of arbitration allows corporations to sue for lost profits. Decisions are irrevocable.
TheInheritance of Inequality and Rethinking Growth (tags)
The economy exists for people, not vice versa. Economics should be pluralist, not a monolith. The economy should be embedded in society; society should not be embedded in the economy. Thomas Piketty and alternative economics emphasize inequality and mass unemployment.
TTIP Undermines the Constitutional State (tags)
TTIP, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, is a deregulation agreement, a great redistribution project benefiting mammoth corporations at the expense of women and the 99%. Loud protest caused the EU commission to suspend negotiation on the investor right to sue.
Criticism of Consumerism and Criticism of Capitalism (tags)
With the striking climate change, the "western lifestyle" has come into crisis. Our consumption is more environmentally-friendly but we simultaneously consume more and more so the environment is hardly relieved. Necessary social framing conditions are faded out.
Perhaps someone with one of those new computer programs developed by Bill Gates could calculate the resources being used for war expenses at the cost of education, healthcare and culture for humanity...
Sustainability or Consumerism (tags)
The industrial nations must lower their CO2 emissions at least 80% by 2060.. Consumerism, accumulating goods as a substitute for meaning, is the great enemy of climate protection today.