"The American Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank agreement to inject the financial system with liquidity was insufficient to reanimate the economy," explains the daily. "Today, we can say that these initiatives allow us to stimulate the markets for several days, but the phantom of the crisis returns quickly afterwards. ... The market tells us that it isn't simply a question of liquidity, but of confidence. The reality is that the banks refuse to lend money and that all over the world, everyday it becomes harder to find credit. ... The problem is that market doubts have begun to affect the real economy." (20/03/2008)

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Gerald Braunberger has little sympathy with the calls for central banks and governments to come to the aid of banks. Josef Ackermann, CEO of Deutsche Bank, had previously explained that the market's self-help mechanisms no longer function in a crisis of this nature: "It has nothing to do with social envy to point out that successful bank managers earn tens of millions a year, and the successful managers of hedge funds and private equity companies even more. At such times bank managers cast themselves as advocates of the free market. But as soon as the house of cards of speculation threatens to collapse, they expect the central banks and taxpayers to help them out. For the sake of the common good, the state has no alternative but to do this. But such rescue operations severely damage the reputation of the financial sector. It has only itself to blame for the fact that people are now calling for tighter controls." (19/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Financial Markets, » Global
All available articles from » Gerald Braunberger

Columnist Jacques Pilet considers that "the current crisis - the worst since the 1930's - has brought to light a number of lies: the incompetence of arrogant managers obsessed by their personal fortune, the inadequacy of central banks and the docility of public opinion that has believed for too long in the fables they are fed. But that's not the worst of it. The masters of international finance believe in two facts: that the United States is the model for economic success, and that pure liberalism is the future of the world. The theological approach has taken a big hit. ... No one believes that the banks alone can 'establish order;' as they say, in a system that's been destabilised by their own irresponsible acrobatics. No one believes that public opinion will continue to accept dressing the wounds with public money for much longer." (20/03/2008)

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All available articles from » Jacques Pilet

"The marvellous edifice of modern finance took years to build. The world had a weekend to save it from collapsing," writes the weekly magazine. "It was a Herculean effort, and it staved off the outright catastrophe of a bank failure [Bear Stearns] that had threatened to split Wall Street asunder. Even so, this week's brush with disaster contained two unsettling messages. One is analytical: the world needs new ways of thinking about finance and the risks it entails. The other is a warning: the crisis has opened a new, dangerous chapter. ... Something important happened on Wall Street this week. It was not just the demise of a firm that traded through the Depression. Financiers discovered that they had created a series of risks that the market could not cope with. That is not a reason to condemn the whole system: it is far too useful. It is a sign that the rules need changing." (19/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Financial Markets, » U.S., » Global

Italian journalist and writer Vittorio Sabadin analyses the changes that have taken place in Western societies since the 19th Century. "The social classes as they are described by Karl Marx and Max Weber don't exist anymore, and it's no longer money that makes the difference. To classify individuals, it's taste, attitudes and education that count the most. In our Western societies, the hope for a single prosperous middle class disappears in the economic crisis. It takes away the amount of resources available to those in the middle of the ladder, and pulls them irrevocably downwards. ... The destruction of class doesn't only affect the middle classes. The working class works harder and harder in India and China and less and less in Europe." (20/03/2008)

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All available articles from » Vittorio Sabadin

According to Paul Lendvai, the international community should use vigilance and pressure to secure the minority rights of the Serbs in Kosovo, but it would be wrong to hold out the prospect of EU membership to all the former Yugoslavian states: "It should be said openly that the dream of membership for all the countries of South Eastern Europe, advocated among others by Erhard Busek, who recently resigned as Special Coordinator [of the Southeast European Stability Pact], is an illusion. The last, precipitated round of expansion has already endangered the EU's capacity to act. Notwithstanding the resourcefulness of pragmatic politics, to prematurely grant candidate status to the Balkan states, with all their ticking time bombs, would be the beginning of the total failure of the great European experiment." (20/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Kosovo
All available articles from » Paul Lendvai

Brussels correspondent Daniela Weingärtner takes a sceptical view of the Mediterranean Union advocated by Nicolas Sarkozy. "You don't have to be a prophet to foresee that the French president will fail with his new creation. True, the EU has a strong interest in its southerly neighbours getting back on their feet economically, adhering to the rule of law and at the same time being prepared to keep refugees, people traffickers, drugs and other evils away from Europe. But these neighbours are too diverse both culturally and economically for their demands to be satisfied through a common Mediterranean policy. Instead, the European Commission should develop a tailor-made negotiating strategy that meets with the approval of all 27 EU members for each individual country. This is a painstaking but promising approach." (20/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Africa, » Europe
All available articles from » Daniela Weingärtner

Armando Esteves Pereira considers the Portuguese government's wish to reform the judicial system as the latest step in the trend of abandoning the public service. "The logic of the judicial system reform is the same logic that guided the closure of more than 2000 schools, many emergency services and even maternity hospitals. These reforms threaten the country. If it is inevitable that the majority of villages are becoming deserted, there is a serious risk of seeing the local capitals follow suit. The presence of public services was previously one of the characteristics of small cities in the interior. Public service employees, professors, doctors, judges, lawyers, and other liberal professions constitute the biggest part of the social fabric in these cities. If Portugal was a company, this reform effort would be laudable. But a country is far more than that: it must be an interconnected community that respects its history and all of its territory." (19/03/2008)

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All available articles from » Armando Esteves Pereira

Last week, Turkey's state prosecutors saught to close-down the ruling moderate Islamist AKP party and ban its officials, including the prime minister and president, from politics. Greek Columnist Stavros Lygeros defends the government from this latest attack. "Erdogan's government boasts a number of accomplishments: It boosted economic development and helped the working class. It raised the EU banner and has used it in order to push through a string of reforms and to politically neutralize the military establishment. Add to these the moderate stance it has shown, and the AKP has succeeded in convincing a large part of the middle class and the business world that not only is it no threat to the secular state, but that it can play a crucial role in the state's modernization and Europeanization. ... Turkey is in a much better place today than it was in 2002. All the Kemalists have left are accusations that Erdogan is trying to undermine the secular state." (19/03/2008)

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All available articles from » Stavros Lygeros

On March 25, Belarus celebrates its Freedom Day, which marks the 90th anniversary of the creation of the Belarusian People's Republic. Małgorzata Nocuń writes: "Why did such an insignificant state become part of the national myth? It barely existed for a year; its demise began when the Red Army marched into Minsk. ... But it was in 1918 that a state entity called 'Belarus' emerged for the first time in history. This set a precedent. It paved the way for the proclamation of the Belorussian Socialist Soviet Republic - as part of the USSR. For 17 years now Belarus has been an independent state. On March 25 the people will take to the streets and stage their traditional protests against the despot, Lukashenko." (19/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » History
All available articles from » Małgorzata Nocuń

French President Nicolas Sarkozy withdrew his complaint against the magazine 'Le Nouvel Observateur,' which had published on its website an article concerning his relationship with his ex-wife. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, his new wife, denounced the lack of professional ethics in the media in a column published in 'Le Monde'. Laurent Joffrin, director of 'Liberation', agrees with Bruni's argument. "Let's admit it: other than the fact that it is well written, [the article] begs a question of the profession - Liberation included: should the logic of the esteemed press law - newspapers are free, but are responsible for any abuse of this freedom - apply to the vertiginous world of the Internet, and if yes, how ? The debate will continue, but on this point, we really can't see how technology can be an excuse for the neglect of the principle that protects individuals as much as the media." (20/03/2008)

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All available articles from » Laurent Joffrin

Hugo Claus, the Flemish artist, writer, poet, filmmaker and playwright, passed away March 19th at the age of 78. Interviewed by Jean-Claude Vantroyen, Jan Goossens, the director of the Royal Flemish Theatre (KVS) recalls that this Dutch-language writer wasn't always as appreciated. He also praised Claus' anti-nationalist positions. "Fundamentally, he was a bastard-artist. He loved mixes, anything hybrid. His biggest enemy was purity. In his literary work, and as a human being. He couldn't stand anything nationalist, closed or monocultural. He fought this tendency in Flanders from his first day to his last. Flanders salutes him now, but there were always difficult and problematic relations with him. Today, he's a great man. This was not always the case." (20/03/2008)

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All available articles from » Jan Goossens, » Jean-Claude Vantroyen

The NATO summit takes place at the beginning of April in Bucharest. Russia's incumbent president, Vladimir Putin, is also invited. Alina Mungiu-Pippidi contends that the city is going too far with its security measures. Even if the NATO summit were to be bombed, as was the case with our unlucky friends in Serbia in 1999, the disruption of daily life in Bucharest couldn't be as great as it is now. There wouldn't be as many flight cancellations or sealed-off streets. ... Our problem is the same as ever. We want too much but can achieve too little. We have great ambitions, but our capacities are minimal. I can't wait to see which restaurants our guests will frequent." (20/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Public Culture, » Romania
All available articles from » Alina Mungiu-Pippidi

Many thousands of Lithuanians have left their home country to seek work in Great Britain or Ireland. Andrius Uzkalnis writes that these emigrants should neither be ridiculed in their host countries nor condemned as traitors in their home country. "Everyone should live where he feels happiest, where he is most successful, has most space and the greenest garden. I know of no nation that has died out because of emigration. Ireland itself experienced an unprecedented wave of emigration during the years of famine. The emigration of the Lithuanians is nothing in comparison. The Armenians have not died out despite their terrible past and the loss of half their country, even though today more Armenians live abroad than in their home country. Their language and writing have survived. The more happy Lithuanians there are, regardless of where they live, the happier Lithuania will be." (19/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Migration, » Demographics, » Lithuania
All available articles from » Audrius Uzkalnis

Pavel Verner describes a report on criminality compiled by the European Commission as an example of the "misery of statistics". The report classifies the Scandinavian countries as particularly dangerous. "I have been in all the capitals of Western Europe and - with the exception of Madrid - always felt safer than in Prague. That's why the EU statistics took my breath away. Sweden is supposedly the most dangerous country, yet for me, the country is an idyllic paradise with minimal crime. Romania and Bulgaria are reportedly among the safest countries. Yet in Bulgaria particularly, every responsible local warns you not to travel alone. The explanation for these statistics is simple. Things that we simply dismiss here are regarded as crimes in Sweden, Belgium or the United Kingdom." (20/03/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Pavel Verner