Vince Cable makes the point (see yesterday’s post) that the centre of gravity of the economic world has moved to the east, particularly to China.   Today’s Financial Times carries an op-ed by Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.  He rightly asserts that, unfortunately, many people have forgotten the old-fashioned principle of [...]

Vince Cable (the UK Liberal Democrat “shadow” finance minister) has written a superb book on the world economic crisis and what it means, entitled The Storm (Atlantic Books, 2009).  In only around 160 pages, he writes clearly and with considerable economic authority.  Cable was one of the few who anticipated the current crisis.  The book [...]

Faites vos jeux!  Who will be the four bastions of the Union’s future when the Lisbon Treaty comes into force?     Commission                Barroso? Parliament                  Buzek? European Council         Blair? ‘Foreign Minister’         Bildt?   The odds are shortening on the four Bs. 

The Guardian Council today announced that there will be a partial recount of the disputed presidential election results: this is not expected to change the outcome. It is surprising that the western media before today failed to report much beyond the public outrage and demonstrations. The two opposing sides are divided by class rather than [...]

The columnist, Gwynne Dyer, has drawn my attention to an article, written by Colonel Sergei Kovalev, Director of the scientific research department at the Institute of Military History.  It is entitled  “Fictions and Falsifications in Evaluating the USSR’s Role On the Eve of the Second World War.”      Kovalev asserts that the Poles, not [...]

A few reflections on last week’s European Parliament Election results:   ·              The results are broadly as expected, with the centre-right clear winners, the centre-left clear losers, and the extreme right and euro-sceptics doing well.  ·              In comparing the sizes of the old groups with the current sizes of the new groups, the reduction of [...]

This is a good time to review the state of the EU-China relationship, after the postponed summit which took place in Prague on 20 May and the High Level Economic & Trade dialogue which met in Brussels on 7-8 May (see post of 14 May). The official reports and communiqués, following both meetings, are full [...]

Peace between the Israelis and Palestinians is further away than ever.  Animosity between Westerners and Muslims continues to grow.  Traditional anti-Semitism is on the rise.   The composition of the current Israeli government is frightening.  Prime Minister Netanyahu does not acknowledge a two state solution.  Foreign Minister Lieberman continues to express his contempt for his [...]

  President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo University on 4 June, rivals the brilliance of John F Kennedy’s Ich bin ein Berliner 1963 speech in Berlin.  Shrewdly, the event was hosted by Cairo University, founded in 1908, al-Azhar University, founded in 975.  I could not resist watching its entire 54 minutes.  Of course, words alone [...]

Whether or not the Doha Development Round collapses, thought needs to be given to reforming the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the current trading system.  A starting point would be to dust down the Havana Charter of 1947.   The developing countries do not trust the developed world to dismantle its protectionist measures in the fields [...]