Of all the various interesting things that Alan Krueger chairman of the US President’s Council of Economic Advisers touches upon in his speech on rising inequality, one attracted most my attention. It relates to the evolution over the past century … Continue reading →
Madrid, Day 1. Visit at the Prado. Madrid, giorno 1, visita al Prado. “Representación de los fusilamientos de patriotas de Madrid por el ejército de Napoleón, como represalia al levantamiento del 2 de mayo de 1808 contra la ocupación francesa. … Continue reading →
Madrid, Day 1. Visit at the Prado. Madrid, giorno 1, visita al Prado. From the Prado website: “El retrato muestra la capacidad de Velázquez de captar el cansancio y la melancolía de Felipe IV durante los últimos años del reinado.” … Continue reading →
Resiliency. The ability to spring back from and successfully adapt to adversity. Ok. We had this feeling, here in Italy, that things were working out better after Monti met with Merkel. There was hope. Our PM clearly pushed the German … Continue reading →
An Italian government bond yield of four percentage points over the German bund, coupled with zero real gross domestic product growth, could prove “explosive” for the country, although a spread of 1.5 percentage points and growth of 1.5% would leave … Continue reading →
“The Icelandic crisis started well before the world collapsed in 2008″, Árni Páll Árnason (from now on APA) says. APA was an Icelander Social Democrat MP at the time. He only became Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security in … Continue reading →
It is not even funny. Not one bit. ““Woman’s Head”, a 1939 oil on canvas, had been given by Picasso to the Greek state in 1949 in recognition of the country’s resistance to Nazi Germany, the police said in a … Continue reading →
We Italians celebrate every 6th of January the Befana, that ugly looking lady smiling on the picture to your left, taken by Trisha. She has other names, the Befana. Frau Holle or Frau Berchta, in Germay. The witch Posterli, in … Continue reading →
Italy is on the verge of privatizing more of its assets, including its defense industry and its local utilities. Will this reduce corruption? Not at all. As for defense, this is a sector that remains among the most corrupt, whether it … Continue reading →
Happy New Year to All. Last night less fireworks than usual for a country like Italy. But I was stricken more by the introduction in the “end of the year partying” of a new innovative product: the Lantern. My ignorance: … Continue reading →