‘Negative growth’ is a well-known oxymoron, but the Director of the Europe Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has taken redefinition to a wholly new level. In an interview with IMF Survey Magazine, Reza Moghadam says that since starting to follow the orders of the Troika (IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank), Ireland has “seen modest growth.” ...

Instead of an analysis of what kind of "austerity measures" and in whose favor, the troika and its vassals in the Greek government have been preparing, I'll just show you a table of taxes before and after the new tax system, a part of the latest austerity package, is implemented, by income category. This is income tax only, it does not include social security taxes... The really fun part is at the bottom of ...

No wonder the protesters are back. They are angry at the backdoor rewriting of the social contract Ha-Joon Chang   Rioters beat a policeman during a rally against government austerity measures in Athens. Photograph: John Kolesidis/REUTERS Throughout the 1980s and 90s, when many developing countries were in crisis and borrowing money from the International Monetary Fund, waves of protests in those count ...

Faced with unprecedented protests, the Portuguese government has been forced to withdraw the announced increase in workers' social security contributions. This is a victory for the movement of the Portuguese workers and people, but only a very temporary one. ...

  Dear friends and comrades,   We are organizing a big workers "CARAVAN of STRUGGLE & SOLIDARITY" which will take place from 12 Octomber until 15 Octomber in Greece. We would like to invite you to our first stop of our tour at THESSALONIKI, GREECE on FRIDAY 12 Octomber. If you are coming, we can arrange travel tickets and accomodation. You will show up at Ivanofio basketball arena. Thanks a lo ...

Mohammadi Younus grew up in Ghazni Province, in the east of Afghanistan, and studied medicine in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. He had “a problem with the Taliban… a political problem” during the dark days of their rule, and he landed in jail. He decided to leave the country and crossed into Iran. He bought a fake passport for a little more than two thousand dollars and made it to Turkey. He registere ...

The Deposit Flight Which Could Undermine the Euro By Yalman Onaran An accelerating flight of deposits from banks in four European countries is jeopardizing the renewal of economic growth and undermining a main tenet of the common currency: an integrated financial system. A total of 326 billion euros ($425 billion) was pulled from banks in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece in the 12 months ended July 31, a ...

Yesterday, Portugal saw the biggest mobilization since the 1974 revolution. Hundreds’s of thousands of people came to the streets to protest the new package of austerity measures being imposed by the troika. 3 People have been arrested for separate incidents. One of those arrested was caught in possession of explosives in front of the IMF offices in Lisbon. There is an uncertain number of injuries due to an ...

Across Europe it is the sick the old and especially the young that are being forced to pay for the economic crisis. In Spain and Greece youth unemployment stands at over 50%. In Ireland although that figure is somewhat lower at 17.9% but this still means nearly 1 in 5 youth are workless and the statistic covers up the distressing reality that we face; in particular, ongoing attacks to education and the lack ...

Nick Dearden reports from an activist conference on austerity and debt in Athens. It will come as no surprise to the hundreds of people gathered for a conference I have just returned from, that Greece’s ‘bailout’ package agreed 12 months ago has failed to provide a solution to the country’s debt problems. ...