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Five prime ministers in eight years. Six chancellors. Four Conservative leaders, a Labour landslide that felt less like a dawn than a pause, and now Keir Starmer, standing in the Downing Street rose garden, speaking of “national renewal” in the same syntax as a man trying to soothe a burns victim with a damp flannel
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The Neocons Admit Defeat – How Robert Kagan’s Atlantic Article Marks the End of the American Century Robert Kagan, a leading architect of the Project for a New American Century, has declared that the Iran war is a catastrophe and that America has effectively lost. What does it mean when the hawks themselves give up? What does it mean for a project of US imperialism when the people who designed that project publicly declare that it has failed? It means two things. Firstly, curtains for the project in question. Secondly, the prospects for American empire are now extremely grim –…
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On December 16, 2008, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) did something it had never done before. It cut the federal funds rate—the benchmark interest rate that influences all other borrowing costs in the American economy—to a range of 0 to 0.25% . For all practical purposes, the Fed had pushed rates to zero. The central bank had reached the “zero lower bound,” the point at which conventional monetary policy could not push rates any lower. But the economy was still in free fall. Unemployment was rising. Banks were not lending. The housing market was collapsing. The Fed had used…
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The Great Recession of 2007-2009 was a financial and economic upheaval unlike any other, with stock market crashes wiping out $16 trillion in household wealth. Job losses soared, with 8.7 million Americans unemployed between 2007 and 2009, creating a prolonged labor market crisis.
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The 2008 financial crisis was a global catastrophe, beginning with Lehman Brothers’ collapse and rapidly spreading across the globe. European banks were heavily exposed to US subprime mortgages, leading to a domino effect that triggered nationalizations and collapses in countries like Iceland and the UK. The crisis shattered global trade, industrial production, and economies worldwide, highlighting the interconnectedness of financial systems.
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It has become common in the UK to talk about austerity as if it is a thing of the past – something that happened between 2010 and 2024, now supposedly over. This is completely wide of the mark. The Labour government has made some token inroads into rolling back austerity. The vote to end the two‑child benefit cap – a policy that punished poor families for having more than two children – is one example. And as the Green Party has surged on the left, Labour has suddenly realised that doing some vaguely socially democratic things might be an idea…
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The September 2008 meeting at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was a turning point as leaders decided against bailing out Lehman Brothers, setting off a chain reaction in the financial crisis.
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Warren Buffett’s 2003 warning about derivatives as ‘financial weapons of mass destruction’ was ignored as they fueled a complex and lucrative financial system. By 2007, the $596 trillion OTC derivatives market was dominated by CDS, with AIG’s risky $527 billion exposure leading to a 2008 collapse.
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Italy’s journey to democracy began in 1946 when the Constituent Assembly met in Rome. This historic assembly, featuring 21 pioneering female legislators, comprised diverse political figures, including former partisans and fascists. Over 18 months, they crafted a groundbreaking constitution that balanced individual rights with social solidarity. Their work laid the foundation for modern Italian democracy.
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In the aftermath of the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, a unique rebellion emerged as a coalition of Sicilians sought independence from Italy. Despite controlling significant portions of the island and gaining substantial regional support, this movement faced defeat through military force and political strategies. Its legacy endures, highlighting deep-seated grievances against foreign domination and organized crime.