The Netherlands, Berlin's most important ally in pushing for greater budgetary discipline in Europe, has fallen into an economic crisis itself. The once exemplary economy is suffering from huge debts and a burst real estate bubble, which has stalled growth and endangered jobs. Graphic detailing the economic downturn in the Netherlands. By Christoph Schult and Anne Seith   Michel Scheepens is familiar w ...

A new world heaves into view this week with sweeping changes in the fields of welfare, justice, health and tax Monday 1 April Bedroom tax introduced The aim is to tackle overcrowding and encourage a more efficient use of social housing. Working age housing benefit and unemployment claimants deemed to have one spare bedroom in social housing will lose 14% of their housing benefit and those with two or more s ...

In this animate, academic David Harvey looks beyond capitalism towards a new social order. Can we find a more responsible, just, and humane economic system? This RSA Animate was taken from a lecture given as part of the RSA's free public lecture programme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0 ...

Unemployment across the 17 EU countries that use the euro has hit 12% for the first time since the currency was launched in 1999. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said the rate in February was unchanged and at the record high after January's figure was revised up from 11.9% to 12%. Over the month, 33,000 people in the eurozone joined the ranks of the unemployed. Spain and Greece continued to suffer fro ...

Repost from  FT Alphaville Raise your hand if you didn’t first hear about the way in which the Dutch government took over ailing SNS Reaal on February 1st and think ‘oh, really now?’ along with an arched eyebrow. The mechanics of the takeover are interesting indeed, but given that two of the four largest Dutch banks have been nationalised, we have a bigger picture question: How much warning was there that S ...

TheRealNews Costas Lapavitsas: Cyprus should let the private banks fail and create a public bank that focuses on strengthening the real economy.     Latest News on Cyprus: Cyprus PM threats for resignation and Referendum [GR] http://thepaper.gr/%CE%B8%CF%81%CE%AF%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%81-%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CE%B3%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%AC-%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%8D%CF%81%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%BF-%CE%BA%CF%85%CF%80%CF%81%CE%B9 ...

ATHENS — It has been so elaborately repeated that it almost borders on ritual: Greece’s troika of lenders leaves Athens with disagreement over whether the country should receive billions of euros in fresh financial aid. Greek officials scramble to tackle demands for more austerity to obtain the money, even as social distress deepens. The cycle was staged again Thursday as the Greek government tried to figur ...

Many thousands of demonstrators have held marches in more than 20 cities in Portugal to protest against government-imposed austerity measures aimed at lifting the ailing country out of recession. Tens of thousands of people filled a Lisbon boulevard during Saturday's protests and headed to the finance ministry carrying placards saying "Screw the troika, we want our lives back". The troika is a reference to ...

Local committee of the Association of Hospital Doctors of Athens and Piraeus General Hospital of Nikaia-Pireus 27-3-2013 The doctors of the hospital have demanded their names to be removed from the schedule of the on-call duties of March as they are unpaid for 5 consecutive months. According to the decision of a massive general assembly, the doctors of the General Hospital of Nikaia-Piraeus “A. Panteleimon” ...

Via Mint Partners' Bill Blain, Today’s big event was Italy's 10% auction. Buyers can’t ignore yield, and I suspect many were “encouraged” to participate. But a decent Italy auction doesn't change the brutal facts. Electoral fall-out blankets the Euro battlefield, but it was decisions made years ago that have brought us to this blasted heath. Markets are caught in... Stalemate. On one side you have the disbe ...