Analyses
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Arab Spring / Arab Uprisings / MENA / Unemployment / Youth / Finance & Economics / Focus Article / Global Change / Middle East / AfricaJobs and meaningful employment are demands highlighted by the Arab Uprisings that will not go away. Governments are struggling to recast technical and vocational training programs into effective vehicles for preparing market-ready youth. It is no coincidence that when the World Economic Forum was focusing on youth under-employment/unemployment at its annual conference in Davos, the Audit Court (Cours des Comptes) in Morocco was issuing a report criticizing the quality of the country’s vocational training system. There is a great deal of concern globally with devising effective mechanisms for meeting youth employment needs, and Jamie McAuliffe, president of Education for Employment...
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Democracy / economy / finance / Intelligence / Politics / security / United States / Washington D.C / Focus Article / Global SecurityBy Mike RettigDespite the controversies over the past decade, the US has a good track record of maintaining its democratic traditions while still using secret intelligence services to preserve national security. In 1777, George Washington wrote that the “necessity of procuring good intelligence is apparent.” Indeed, as America fought ardently for its ideals during the Revolutionary War, Washington was said to be an “avid user of intelligence as well as a consummate practitioner.” Washington’s words and actions demonstrate well the contradiction surrounding a democracy’s intelligence service. While the secrecy inherent in a well-functioning intelligence service can...
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Adam Smith / American Economics Association / Anglo-American Tradition / Capitalism / David Ricardo / John K. Galbraith / John Keynes / John S. Mill / Karl Marx / Milton Friedman / Social Democracy / United States / Finance & Economics / Focus ArticleBy Bülent TemelSocial democracy promoted by the late Harvard political economist John K. Galbraith is the future of capitalism with its emphasis on equity and responsibility alongside prosperity. Social and economic ills of our time are predictable outcomes of the ideological dismissal of a functional theory of capitalism in the Anglo-American tradition: Social democracy. Those who went through the mills of mainstream economics education are familiar with names like Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John S. Mill, Karl Marx, John M. Keynes or Milton Friedman. Right alongside these great thinkers, however, there are numerous others who could not earn the celebrity status despite making as significant contributions...
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With a prospect of a hung parliament following recent elections and Italy’s major public and political figures out of the picture, will a new movement gain momentum? By mid-1920s, an Italian anarchist group, Gli Arditi d’Italia (Italy’s Daring Ones), counted some 50,000 members and sympathisers, and its most prominent member was called Errico Malatesta. Fascism ranted and raved across the country and the Pope manifested his understood support for the rising dux, in the face of personal sympathy and powerlessness. Revolution for this ardent group of resistance was an act of will, a leap forward beyond the socio-economic calculus, and the rationalities of the professions of...
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China / Chomsky / Freud / Japan / Laos / North Korea / Politics / United States / Europe / Focus Article / BRIC / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / Asia / OceaniaFair Observer's five best articles of February. By February, the new year loses its newness and 2013 is no exception. While all of us have settled into 2013, the world continues to be as eventful as ever. Italy has had yet another election. Kerry is off on his first foreign trip as Secretary of State. Karzai is asking the US to curtail its role, and the conflict in Syria shows no signs of resolution. The world economy is wobbly with the Eurozone in deepest distress. At Fair Observer, we try our best to make sense of the world and please find our best articles for February below. As always, we want to know what you think and please email us at info@fairobserver.com to tell us how we can...
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Arab Spring / Emir of Qatar / Gulf / Politics / Qatar / United States / Focus Article / Middle EastDavid Holdridge, a frequent visitor to Qatar over the past decade, argues that sooner rather than later the US will realize that it should distance itself from the autocracies of the Gulf. Oil and military concerns aside, the Arab street will not tolerate these medieval structures much longer. Not long ago, I found myself on the pavement on West 23rd Street in lower Manhattan. Just outside the door of this beautiful red brick monster – walking toward a bar called “East of 8th” for a couple of shots and a burger. I had spent the day uptown trying to get my head around the question of what makes Qatar tick. I had listened to our esteemed Secretary of Transportation...
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Carbon Tax / climate change / Corporate Tax / United States / Finance & Economics / Focus Article / Environment & SustainabilityA carbon-for-corporate tax swap may be a recipe for environmental and economic improvement, but it isn’t a complete one. Lawmakers should consider other policy initiatives that could help protect low-income households, and potentially make a carbon-for-corporate tax swap a more balanced policy option. Two great tastes often taste great together. Chocolate and peanut butter. Oreos and milk. Popcorn and butter. Could the same be true of carbon taxes and corporate tax reform? Done right, each could be flavorful. But would they be even tastier together? My Tax Policy Center colleague Eric Toder and I explore that question in a new paper. We find that using a carbon tax to help pay for...
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Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja / Arab Spring / Arab Uprisings / Bahrain / Bahraini Uprising / Maryam Al-Khawaja / Politics / Focus Article / Middle EastMaryam Al-Khawaja, the daughter of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who went on a 110 day hunger strike protesting against human rights violations, reflects upon the Bahraini uprising. On that day, February 14, 2011, there was a sense that things would change. The energy of the crowd was electric and contagious. The frustration that had built up for years unfolded in the form of peaceful protests in Pearl Square — the revolutionary space that had housed hundreds of thousands of Bahrainis for months, and had been subsequently destroyed by authorities. On that day, February 14, 2011, history repeated itself in Bahrain, as the sources of power repressed the majority through the forceful dispersion...
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architecture / brazil / drug trafficking / Rio de Janeiro / Rocinha / Focus Article / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AmericasAn insight about some of the elements peculiar to the realities of favelas in Brazil. The vast majority of women who live in Rocinha, a slum in Rio de Janeiro, have their toenails painted. Different colors, shades and designs. Usually, they wear flip-flops, casual and simple clothes, and their hair tied. Almost no make-up. But the toenails are there, showing themselves to everyone. That’s a fact that only those can perceive who actually go to Rocinha, one of the most famous favelas in Brazil. This is the kind of news that media doesn’t talk about; there are no articles on papers either. It’s a detail about the community that lives there, nowadays reaching a number of...