The Other School of Economics

Archive for March, 2011

And the cab driver asked “so what do you think of the French bombing Libya?”

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March 30, 2011 0

A Gonzo piece on Nicolas and Muammar…
Last week I was on a cab en route to the airport when my driver asked “so what do you think of the French bombing Libya?”
Coincidental conversation starter, as I was absorbed in reading 2 good opposed pieces on the topic: Juan Cole’s Open Letter To The Left On [...]

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Operation Odyssey Dawn must not become an “odyssey”

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March 23, 2011 1

A smart line has been circulating recently on the web: “Nuclear Cloud, Rise of the National Front in France, the US bombing Libya: welcome to 1986. We’re back to the future”. It is true that historical analogies make it tempting to look for past situations in order to resolve current crises.
With Libya in particular, the [...]

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Are we still going nuclear?

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March 17, 2011 0

“If France can produce 80 percent of its electricity with nuclear power, why can’t we?”
- John Mac Cain, US Senator

Putting thoughts in an envelop to be reopened when the big debate is on

Australian Columnist Annabel Crabb is right. “Wish we could wait till the dead are counted in Japan before we have the [...]

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Washington’s Back Swan moment?

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March 12, 2011 1

Hollywood and Washington might be having another one of those wonderful serendipitous moments. When the movie script writers capture the political mood better than the spin doctors could ever dream of. This time, the psychological drama between the ‘innocent’ White Swan and the ‘manipulative’ Black Swan might be an unlikely but quite telling metaphor of the ideological shift happening [...]

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The man who did not kill Le Pen-ism (and some lessons for the rest of us)

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March 7, 2011 0

(This quick post is highly inspired by a column from French journalist Guy Birenbaum written in reaction to an opinion poll giving the National Front Leader ahead of all other candidates for the 2012 presidential election. I translated large bits, and added others relevant to a non-French audience.)

Nicolas Sarkozy on his favorite part of the agenda
During the [...]

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Tough times for the Tao of Democracy: Collective social contract vs Liberalism

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March 6, 2011 0

They are doing it again. 20 years after one of the biggest political misjudgements when France and Britain feared the fall of the Berlin Wall, Western governments do not quite know how to react to the Arab revolutions.

That our ‘democratic’ governments seem more comfortable dealing with autocrats than supporting dissenters aspiring to democracy reveals deep [...]

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      Following yet more cuts to uni funding, we have an escalating crisis in higher education – and the sector's watchdog on quality and standards is struggling too, writes Richard Hil […]
    • Community Radio Is Everyone's Voice May 23, 2013
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    • Zomia, Land Without State May 23, 2013
      For two thousand years, according to James Scott, the mountains of Zomia were a place of refuge for the people of Southeast Asia. For the author, this region, as a centre of resistance to the state, holds up a mirror to our destructive and self-confident civilisation. A fascinating and intriguing anarchist history. - Reviews / anarchisme, résistance, democra […]
    • A World Out of Key May 23, 2013
      Although today's world is more interdependent than ever, it is still a jigsaw puzzle of sovereign states. One consequence of globalization is that we have to update our own mental maps, and to understand other people's. In this interview, the diplomat and geographer Michel Foucher explains the world's new geography. - Reviews / géographie, int […]
    • The Multiple Meanings of Revolution May 23, 2013
      Though the age of historic upheavals and major political crises seemed to be over, the word “revolution” has made a recent comeback in Georgia, in the Ukraine and in the “Arab Springs” of 2011. Should we revise the concept of revolution? What, if anything, do these contemporary revolutions have in common? Can they be compared to the great revolutions of the […]
    • From Bombay to Mumbai May 23, 2013
      Gyan Prakash's most recent book takes us on a journey through Bombay's history, focusing on the myths and fables that have shaped how the city is represented. His ambitious project fails, however, to explain Bombay's transition from a cosmopolitan city to one torn apart by ethnic conflict. - Reviews / city, urbanisme […]
    • Filming the End of the World May 23, 2013
      2012, Terminator, Blade Runner, Melancholia. There is no shortage of films portraying the end of the world; in fact, they are becoming ever more successful. But what is their real meaning? Are they pure entertainment, allowing us to play with the idea that everything could stop from one day to the next? Peter Szendy believes that we should be taking them ver […]