The economic and financial meteorite that crashed into the world economy back in 2008 left a massive crater. Since then, policymakers have been scrambling to fill it in. All the while, many have cast a wistful, sardonic or resentful eye at a glaring anti-crater: the mountain of money accumulating on corporate balance sheets.
A couple of days ago, a friend sent me a video of Nigel Farage speaking at the European Parliament. I hit "play" expecting the general "as polls show..." but before Farage was half-way through his speech, my sides were splitting. It was the greatest and most eloquent utterance on the topic of the EU I have heard from any British public figure since Sir Jimmy Goldsmith spoke at a conference in 1996.
We are facing a climate crisis, and we have a moral responsibility to take action by finding ways to move away from coal, oil, and gas, and towards a clean, safe, and renewable energy future. The European Union is trying to do just that, and the Canadian government should redirect its efforts towards cleaning up its own act, rather than trying to prevent Europe from doing the right thing.
Soon-to-be-former Greek Prime Minister Papandreou had the right instinct calling for a referendum on the austerity package. There has been a long-stranding "democratic deficit" within the European Union, with major decisions being made without the input of the Union's citizens. The latest crisis is only increasing this deficit.
Dalton McGuinty's Green Energy Act has failed to provide the thousands of high value jobs he has spent the last two years claiming it would and Canada's reputation as a free trader is being challenged by important members of the global community. But sadly, it's Ontarians who will clean up the mess.
ATHENS, Greece - Moody's downgraded Greece's bond ratings by a further three notches Monday and warned that it is almost inevitable the country will be considered to be in default following last week's new bailout package.
The agency said the new EU package of measures implies "substantial" losses for private creditors. As a result, it cut its rating on Greece by three notches to Ca -- one above what it considers a default rating.