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The big difference in the EZ is that nations cannot go off the euro as they went off the gold standard

A major part of Lenin’s analysis, for instance, was devoted to the demonstration that Russia had become a quasi-colony as a result of the large scale capital imports, and that the foreign creditors in effect controlled Russia’s foreign policy.

The linkages of these issues can be summarized as a series of impossible trinities or trilemmas.

Germany’s decision to eliminate its nuclear plants led it to bring coal-fired power plants out of mothballs to make up the difference. Doing so was a viable option because coal demand in the United States has dropped sharply as American power plants have turned to less expensive gas, driving down the cost of American coal for export to global markets.

As a result, carbon dioxide emissions in Germany went up last year, not down

“Without shale gas, this would be a world where Russia would have very, very strong market power and there would be very strong dependency on gas supply from geopolitically risky regions in the Middle East, Iran and North Africa,” said Laszlo Varro, the director of the Gas, Coal and Power Markets Division of the International Energy Agency.

Cyprus had developed its financial center over three decades ago by having double taxation treaties with a number of countries, the Soviet Union for example. That means if profits are booked and earned and taxed in Cyprus, they are not taxed again in the other country. Russian deposits are there because Cyprus has a low corporate tax rate, much like Malta and Luxembourg, which annoys some people in Europe.

In addition, Cyprus has a legal system based on English law and follows English accounting rules

This government took a country with excellent fiscal finances, a surplus in fiscal accounts, and a banking system that was in excellent health. They started overspending, not only for unproductive government expenditures but also they raised implicit liabilities by raising pension promises, and so forth.

He called upon the EU to pressure Slovakia’s gas transit pipeline operator into sanctioning so-called reverse gas transit flow schemes, allowing Ukraine, which relies heavily on Russian fuel imports, to diversify by importing European market gas.

How Putin Forged a Pipeline Deal That Derailed

The pipeline, known as South Stream, was Mr. Putin’s most important European project, a tool of economic and geopolitical power critical to twin goals: keeping Europe hooked on Russian gas, and further entrenching Russian influence in fragile former Soviet satellite states as part of a broader effort to undermine European unity.

The bill that Parliament took up on April 4 was arcane. But it swept aside a host of European regulations — rules that Mr. Putin did not want to abide by — for a pipeline that would deliver gas throughout southern Europe. Continue reading the main story Related Coverage In Diplomatic Defeat, Putin Diverts Pipeline to TurkeyDEC. 1, 2014

Coal seen as option for European energy security

has governments in Europe beginning to voice support for domestic coal as a way to cut European dependence on Russian natural gas. About a 40 percent of the European Union's natural gas comes from Russia, and a fifth of its oil.

It is true German exports to Russia and eastern Europe have declined since the beginning of the year. But, given that they never accounted for more than 4 per cent of total exports, this does little to explain the country’s lacklustre performance.

The main problem is not weak export demand or the reluctance of consumers to spend money but the fact that companies are unwilling to invest in new productive assets. Investment now accounts for a smaller portion of output in Germany than in most other industrialised countries.

Germany’s public investment in transport infrastructure and education has long been among the lowest in Europe.

Europe’s Farmers Feel the Weight of Russian Ban

For Fromi Rungis, Russia accounted for 10 percent of its foreign sales.

Europe risks ‘significant’ gas shortages this winter

Eastern European nations are working on ambitious plans to develop terminals to import liquefied natural gas but these will not be ready by the winter.

The Global Consequences of Russia’s Isolation

At the Time Warner Center, anEnclave of Powerful Russians

Citi Cuts Costa Rica Growth Forecast After Firings

Hours later, BofA said it would be exiting operations in Costa Rica, Guadalajara, Mexico and Taguig, Philippines, without saying how many jobs would be lost. Costa Rica’s foreign investment agency said the BofA move would result in 1,500 layoffs.

“This is a strong call to the country to keeps tabs on things like the rising cost of electricity, telecommunications, wages and social guarantees.”

Restarting Ukraine’s Economy

Blueprints for Taming the Climate Crisis

Within about 15 years every new car sold in the United States will be electric. In fact, by midcentury more than half of the American economy will run on electricity. Up to 60 percent of power might come from nuclear sources. And coal’s footprint will shrink drastically, perhaps even disappear from the power supply.

“This will require a heroic cooperative effort,” said Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Columbia University economist who directs the Sustainable Development Solutions Network at the United Nations,

Although the growth rate of coal slows from the breakneck pace of the last decade, global coal consumption by 2017 stands at 4.32 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (btoe), versus around 4.40 btoe for oil, based on IEA medium-term projections. The IEA expects that coal demand will increase in every region of the world except in the United States, where coal is being pushed out by natural gas.

“This report sees that trend continuing. In fact, the world will burn around 1.2 billion more tonnes of coal per year by 2017 compared to today – equivalent to the current coal consumption of Russia and the United States combined. Coal’s share of the global energy mix continues to grow each year, and if no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade.” 

The report notes that in the absence of a high carbon price, only fierce competition from low-priced gas can effectively reduce coal demand. “The US experience suggests that a more efficient gas market, marked by flexible pricing and fueled by indigenous unconventional resources that are produced sustainably, can reduce coal use, CO

Across Eastern Europe, Military Spending Lags

After years in which a combination of fiscal pressures and a complacent trust in the alliance’s protection may have led them to drop their guard,

many countries are building from a very limited ability and remain years away from fielding anything resembling a formidable force against a military as large as Russia’s.