Month: June 2013
Debt crunch intensifies China’s crisis
World financial markets have been rocked again in recent days. First came the US Fed’s announcement last Wednesday (19 June) that it could start to unwind its cheap credit policy of ‘quantitative easing’ by year-end. The following day financial markets were stunned as a liquidity crisis gripped China’s state-owned banking system, with major banks all but refusing to lend to each other. This ‘credit crunch’ reflects growing fears over the unsustainable surge in debt levels across the Chinese economy, and its growing reliance on the opaque and unregulated shadow banking sector.
LGBTQ liberation in the US – more than putting a ring on it
Forty-four years ago at a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, a group of transsexuals, cross-dressers, drag queens, lesbians, and gay men fought back against their constant persecution by the New York Police Department and inadvertently started the modern fight for gay liberation. They would not believe the progress that queer people have made in the last 44 years!
70 anti-austerity candidates join election slate
The successful implementation of the property tax is a Pyrrhic victory for the government. It comes at enormous political expense, particularly for Labour.
Bag men for the banks
The one section of the the establishment which has so far escaped scot-free are the auditing firms, in particular the “Big 4”, KPMG, PWC, Ernst & Young and Deloitte. These firms gave a clean bill of health to the banks as late as 2008.
New law fails – struggle needed for abortion rights
In a recent Irish Times poll 75% of voters have voiced their support for the government’s new legislation on abortion. However, this legislation is extremely limited and falls far short of what is needed and what there is a demand for in society.
Vote No to Haddington Road
The Haddington Road agreement is a capitulation by the right wing union leaders to the government’s and the Troika’s austerity agenda.
A breach of trust – children’s needs before profits
The nation watched in horror as the shocking truth about what happens behind closed doors at our privately owned crèches unfolded on Prime Time. Disturbing images of children being mistreated have enraged parents up and down the country, and all for some of the highest child care costs in Europe.
Report from Turkey
Observations from a city in uprising – where next?
Taksim Square has become a household name since the mighty uprising against the Erdogan government erupted on 31 May. We visited the protests in Istanbul at the start of June to extend solidarity and to learn about the situation on the ground.
Austerity policies and the rise of domestic violence
‘Domestic violence is a serious crime against women and children in Irish society but one that is hidden and minimised.’ The words of Margaret Martin, the Director of Women’s Aid as she launched the organisation’s Annual Report 2012.