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The Welfare State versus the Community
With discord over the policies of austerity racing across Europe and infiltrating US politics, the welfare state has unceremoniously revealed yet another major flaw—it fails to provide social cohesion and directly fosters public strife. During difficult economic times, when people are in the most need of financial, emotional, and communal […]
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Brazil’s government struggles to respond to popular demands
By Rasheed Abou-Alsamh BRASILIA, Brazil – The massive street protests that rocked all of Brazil at the end of June for several weeks showed the high level of popular discontent with the poor state of transportation, education and healthcare in the country. This came as a surprise to many Brazilian […]
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How bad governance unites both ends of the Mediterranean
South of Ciudad Real in Central Spain lies a brand new airport with one of the longest runways in Europe, state of the art facilities and a capacity of 10 million passengers a year. Its only problem is that it is closed. The airport ceased operations in April 2012, less […]
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In Hungary we don’t use the A-word
Politicians, economists and other experts speak gravely about the need for austerity measures on a European and global level. But when it comes to governing their own country, leaders try to avoid using the A-word. Even if they actually do implement some kind of cuts in government spending, they all […]
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Russia: oil money for the rich and austerity for the people
Russia’s steady growth in GDP and its 5% unemployment rate could make countries like Greece and Spain green with envy. The Russian economy surged ahead from the mid-2000s, seemingly immune to the shocks of the 2008 economic crisis. Foreign corporations kept pumping money into a country whose high levels […]