Group items tagged

This article talks about how the European Union disapproves of Iran's nuclear probram. The European Union banned trade in many basic industries such as natural gas so to cause greater difficulties for iran. Iran has also experienced a tough economic climate amidst a world suffering from a great economic depression. For example, Iran has had extreme inflation that has been extremely damaging towards its economy and its power in the world.

Very cool!

The European Union has toughened sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program, banning trade in industries like finance, metals and natural gas, and making other business transactions far more cumbersome, expressing "serious and deepening concerns over Iran's nuclear program." Iran is now suffering acute inflammation, further lowering is credit and ability to sell oil.

It is interesting to consider the dangers that sanctions on states like Iran pose to the international system. Generally, we have been approaching Iran as an "immature" state that does not have the right to have a nuclear program. This sort of attitude alienates Iran and produces resentment against the Western world.

Iran is suffering inflammation??? Or inflation??? :^)

After a previous failed vote, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union charged Amazon with illegal misconduct and called for a do-over. A hearing officer from the National Labor Relations Board confirmed the decision.

A meeting of the British Trade Union Congress in the Grand Hotel in Brighton (the same hotel where the IRA had previously bombed a Conservative Party conference) was evacuated due to an anonymous call saying there was a bomb in the building.

The current shift in labor attitudes in the US is fascinating. What does this say about our culture as a whole? How does this compare to the cultural dynamics around work in other countries?

I'm interested to see how this progresses. It seems like we're in the middle of a really important labor shift that was somewhat catalyzed by the pandemic.

Its interesting to see if this shift in unionizing and labor laws will make any different in unemployment rates, seeing how they have peaked during the pandemic.

This article is essentially about the African Union Health Minister saying that there are methods to soften the blow of the Omicron Variant that warrant some optimism. We generally see bad news around COVID, especially with Omicron, so this is good to see.

I agree with Arjun's comment, and the criticism of richer nations' booster shots is super valid.

population Africa Europe

Political instability is evident in France as the cabinet fell apart over questions regarding the financial crisis of France and the overall economic downslide of the euro over the last 5 years. The Prime Minister Manuel Vall called for the dissolvement of the cabinet after President Hallonde made changes to economic regulations based on the urges of the European Union, German leaders to be specific. The big question regarding the European economy is whether government budget cuts and deficit financing is more important or finding a way to get cash flowing and creating jobs for citizens is more important. Many of the nations of the eurozone initially bought into the policies of austerity policies that Angel Merkel, the German chancellor, advocated, but now they're pulling back their restrictions and some economic growth is occurring. France and Germany, the largest economies in Europe are at odds and France's shift towards the right-wing National Front. France, as a part of the European Union, has pressure to do follow orders and maintain relationships with other European powers rather than do what's exactly right for their citizens. Political instability of France, unemployment, budget cuts, and debt-financing.

France took big hits in WWI and WWII from human and economic standpoints, so following WWII they became big proponents of European integration to build from the ground up. The Franco-German alliance has been a key to the integration of European nations since the 90's, but more recently they have been at odds over the austerity policies regarding France's recent economic recession. The French push for integration is quite ironic given France has more than 26 regions with several territories from its colonial past still belonging to France. Even with a rather diverse population, the majority of the French government is quite centralized with very little devolution of power. The voting turnout has not been very high because average French citizens feel like the power is in the hands of only the French elite. The French social and governmental hierarchy dampens the democratic institutions of France. Furthermore, the French don't only have a strong centralized government, they also have a powerful military and the second largest economy in the eurozone. Though the French struck down the proposed constitution of the European Union in 2005, current socialist President Hollande remains faithful to the European Union and German Chancellor Angel Merkel.

"Partly because of skepticism about shots, Bulgaria has fully inoculated only 20 percent of adults, and Romania 32 percent, well below the European Union average of 70 percent."

I'd be interested to compare how anti-vax sentiments compare in America and in Eastern Europe. It's sad to see how availability is no longer a limiting factor for the vaccine, but it's people's willingness to get the vaccine. Though, I was glad to hear about the higher vaccination rates in most of the EU. Also, I had never seen the term "glass ceiling" used in a context that wasn't about sexism.

Interesting to see the amount of strikes that have arose towards the end of the pandemic.

Hopefully, groups like this will help tech employees to get better pay and more reasonable work load.

"A near-total embargo on Russian oil comes into force on Dec. 5 in the European Union. E.U. insurers and tankers - which comprise half the global fleet - would no longer be allowed to offer their services to transport Russian oil. It would not apply to buyers of Russian oil, like China and India, if they ship and insure the cargoes with companies from countries outside of the group imposing the cap."

Article detailing the European Unions planned sanctions on Iran, if Iran does not back down from nuclear development. The sanctions to be imposed by the EU show a policy change from past sanctions which targeted specific people and companies.

Interesting to build off the article Sam posted previously on Merkel. Some of the initial buzz seems to have quieted down; however, the problem is still very real. Angela Merkel of Germany on Sunday explicitly linked accelerating Turkey's effort to join the European Union to Turkish cooperation in clamping down on the flow of refugees from Turkey to Europe.

This article details the World Bank's activities in Europe and Central Asia. I found it interesting that the vast majority of their efforts focus on the former Soviet Union, where economies are troubled and immigration from North Africa poses a huge problem.

Things are not going well: "Significant poverty reduction over the past decade is reversing, and the sharing of prosperity is stalled in many countries. About 14 percent of the region's population-more than 66 million people-live in poverty, including almost 19 million who live on less than $2.50 a day, the extreme poverty line for the region."

BERLIN - The top leaders of Germany and Italy plan to meet Wednesday as part of an intense round of shuttle diplomacy before several critical decisions that face Europe. The region's leaders are struggling to appease voters questioning the price of unity in the euro currency union after three years of financial turmoil.

I find European economics very fascinating, personally. Germany has been saving much of the Euro economy for three years since the economic crash began, but is not facing its own fiscal issues. In addition, the article discusses the actions of Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti, who has been frantically attending meetings and important "coffees" with other European heads of states to prevent their country's growing national debt--already at 123% GDP!!!

What are Germany's own economic issues? It has seemed like the bulwark of Europe for the last five years! Are there things that are being ignored, e.g. migrant labor, cost of universal health insurance and old age pensions? Is Angela Merkel still popular? Who might succeed her? What are her party's politics?