Photo above: The Hertford Bridge in Oxford, England. Used by Permission. © Tom Ley 01302 782837

Friday, May 28, 2010

Three Certainties in Life: Death, Taxes and Protests

Dr. Mary Manjikian
Robertson School of Government

April 15 has in recent years become a strange sort of national holiday in America. Stores offer citizens free coffee and donuts as consolation for having to pay taxes, while newscasters sympathize with viewers completing last-minute paperwork. Citizens line up at the post office and increasingly take to the streets to protest against wasteful government spending.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Quick Links on the Economy

Dr. Douglas O. Walker
Robertson School of Government

Some links to videos on economic subjects and RSG events:

1. Nouriel Roubini, a professor of economics at New York University, discussing the financial crisis at the London School of Economics can be accessed here along with other videos from the LSE. In contrast to most observers, the renown “Dr. Doom” suggests that financial crises are more

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Europe's Strategy and Europe's Future

Dr. Douglas O. Walker
Robertson School of Government

A week ago, in the wake of its continuing financial crisis and in response to the panicked imploring of Mr. Jean-Claude Trichet, the increasingly anxious President of the European Central Bank, the leaders of the European Union adopted a package of measures intended to stabilize financial markets and support the adjustment of the weaker European economies toward sustainable growth.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Can Europe Save Itself?

Dr. Douglas O. Walker
Robertson School of Government

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

William Butler Yeats (1919)

In a recent speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, called for strengthening “global governance” to deal with financial problems that now plague Europe and other more economically advanced countries of the West. In his view, the existing set of rules, institutions, informal groupings and cooperation mechanisms are not adequate to the great problems now before the world economy.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Quick Links on the Economy

Dr. Douglas O. Walker
Robertson School of Government

Some items of interest to students of international politics:

1. Peter Boone and Simon Johnson, economists at the London School of Economics and MIT, respectively, do not think that the Greek "rescue" package is anywhere near enough to stabilize the eurozone. The picture they present is not at all pleasant to contemplate.