Look at what hedge funds really do – and tell me capitalism is about ‘rewarding risk’

Brett Christophers Coming up with economic policy is a difficult, unforgiving task. To make the best of it, it helps to work with an accurate model of how the economy works. If you use a misleading model and act on it, you can’t reasonably expect good outcomes: in that scenario, we end up, as JM… Read More Look at what hedge funds really do – and tell me capitalism is about ‘rewarding risk’

Madhavan Palat: The Sengol Is a Symbol of ‘Divine Right’ to Power. It Does Not Belong in Parliament. सेन्गोल के रास्ते नेहरू की एंट्री | Sengol debate & Nehru’s return

NB: The RSS and BJP are inventing ever new avatars of communal politics, mixed with a generous dose of an Orwellian nightmare. A theocracy is the use of the state by religious leaders (self-styled representatives of God); and civil religion the use of religion by the state as in Japanese State Shinto. However, Caesaropapism (Caesar+Pope)… Read More Madhavan Palat: The Sengol Is a Symbol of ‘Divine Right’ to Power. It Does Not Belong in Parliament. सेन्गोल के रास्ते नेहरू की एंट्री | Sengol debate & Nehru’s return

BJP Govt Making Systematic Effort to Change Character of Civil Services, Say Former Officers

The former civil servants, as part of the Constitutional Conduct Group, in an open letter to President Droupadi Murmu said The Union government is making “noticeable attempts” to pressure officers to “show exclusive loyalty to the Union. New Delhi: Over 80 former civil servants have written a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, saying attempts are being… Read More BJP Govt Making Systematic Effort to Change Character of Civil Services, Say Former Officers

Was Vichy France a Puppet Government or a Willing Nazi Collaborator?

The authoritarian government led by Marshal Pétain participated in Jewish expulsions and turned France into a quasi-police state Lorraine Boissoneault On November 8, 1942, in the thick of World War II, thousands of American soldiers landed on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, while others amassed in Algeria, only to take immediate gunfire from the French.… Read More Was Vichy France a Puppet Government or a Willing Nazi Collaborator?

Centre-left politics has been dealt a crushing blow in Greece. What can we learn from it?

Marina Prentoulis New Democracy’s victory was not unexpected, but the eye-watering share of the vote the party received is a different matter. The conservative government often points to its record of growth and investment, backed by European Commission forecasts, but the proceeds of this have not been felt evenly: a growing number of Greece’s population over… Read More Centre-left politics has been dealt a crushing blow in Greece. What can we learn from it?

A scandal in Kathmandu rocks the Prachanda govt and threatens the system

Bharat Bhushan Indians, obsessed with Pakistan going down the tube, seem unable to smell the rot that has set in Nepal’s polity and administration. Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka Prachanda, is facing one of the worst corruption scandals to have hit the country since it became a democracy. If he acts against the… Read More A scandal in Kathmandu rocks the Prachanda govt and threatens the system

Alternatives to the nationalism of the conspicuously ignorant: Markha Valenta

First posted July 14, 2012 The word ‘nationalism’ itself dates from the early nineteenth century and marked the increasing use of national identity in order to make political claims. So to argue that national identity is pre-political is itself a political statement.  It is becoming chic among some of Europe’s young elites to call for… Read More Alternatives to the nationalism of the conspicuously ignorant: Markha Valenta

The Underlying Sadness Beneath the Glittering Coronation of Charles and Camilla

When British people say ‘we do pageantry like nobody else’, they are indirectly admitting that we depend disproportionately upon the past to give meaning to the present. Jeremy Seabrook It may have been the grey of the London sky and the tender green of new leaves on plane trees along the Mall that lent to… Read More The Underlying Sadness Beneath the Glittering Coronation of Charles and Camilla