The US economy is on the upswing, but the recovery is taking place primarily on domestic markets and could soon end, warns the daily Les Echos: "After the longest recession since the 1930s, activity in the world's biggest economy is growing three times faster than in France and Germany. Half the growth comes from the scrapping premium, which itself was scrapped at the end of August. The second reason for the economic dynamism is the real estate sector, which has been doped by the drop in interest rates and tax allowances accorded to first-time house buyers. In other words the upturn is caused by government measures, but their effect will only be temporary." (30/10/2009)

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All available articles from » Jean-Marc Vittori

The fresh spurt of growth in the US economy has not met with widespread jubilation because many factors including high unemployment rates constitute a threat to long-term recovery. The liberal business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes that governments should prepare additional economic stimulus packages: "Consumers are still alarmed by the unemployment rate of almost ten percent, extremely high for the US. ... In America those without jobs fall considerably lower than they do in Germany. This could prove fatal, not only in social terms but also economically. If unemployment continues to rise, the most important pillar of the US economy, private consumption, could cease to drive the recovery. Rising oil prices and the many tottering banks are also possible dangers. In view of such uncertainties it can't hurt to follow the advice of Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and prepare another economic stimulus package - so as to be able to react quickly in case the economy once more begins to flounder." (30/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Tax Policy, » Germany, » U.S., » Global

To escape crises in the long term the US must consume less and export more, the daily The Independent writes: "True, a cheaper dollar has started to boost US exports and chip into the country's huge trade deficit. But this improvement needs to be put on a far more substantial and lasting basis. A lesson of the crisis past is that sooner or later, reality catches up with huge global imbalances. In the immortal words of Herb Stein, once chief economic adviser to President Nixon, "if something can't go on for ever, it won't." If the US is to return to robust and sustainable long-term growth, these global imbalances must be corrected. America will have to cut consumption and export more, while China, in particular, will have to consume more and export less." (30/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » U.S., » China

Ahead of the EU summit in Brussels the social democratic heads of government have spoken out against ex-British prime minister Tony Blair's bid to become EU president. They have thus dealt his candidacy a heavy blow, the left-liberal daily La Repubblica writes: "The truly decisive voter in the election of the next European leaders [EU president and foreign policy chief] will once again be German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And it is precisely her antipathy towards Blair that is said to have caused the sudden change in the former British prime minister's fortunes, who by contrast had the backing of [French President] Nicolas Sarkozy. … Germany and France have this time been careful not to mention names to avoid giving the impression that they want to establish a Franco-German 'directorate'. … So at present apart from all the attacks against Tony Blair everyone is playing their cards close to their chests." (30/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » United Kingdom, » Europe
All available articles from » Andrea Bonanni

Czech President Václav Klaus has been given what he asked Brussels for in exchange for ratifying the Lisbon Treaty. The charter of fundamental human rights which forms part of the Treaty may not be used as a legal basis for potential lawsuits against the Beneš decrees. Klaus thus hopes to forestall demands for the restitution of property made by expulsed Sudeten Germans. The business paper Hospodářské Noviny finds this humilliating: "He certainly doesn't deserve angry criticism for holding Europe to ransom. The Union should be grateful to him. Thanks to Klaus there is once more an open discussion about where Europe is headed. And this debate must continue. But what do we Czechs have to thank him for? To achieve his goal he has reawakened the weary ghost of the Sudeten Germans. … Thanks for the discussion about Lisbon, Mr President. But don't expect any thanks for the humiliating means used to achieve your goal." (30/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Domestic Policy, » Czech Republic, » Europe
All available articles from » Petr Šimůnek

Germany's new foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has made his first public appearance with Chancellor Angela Merkel at an EU summit. The left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung evaluates Westerwelle's position: "Whenever he enters the international limelight, Angela Merkel is sure to be there ahead of him. ... He will have to make his mark as an authority on certain issues and set his own agenda. ... But when the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in the White House Barack Obama needs Germany's support Angela Merkel is the one he calls. ... Westerwelle will not be able to leave his own, liberal mark [in the US]. Only much closer to home will he have this chance. For example when the topic of the future of the European Union comes up. The coalition agreement between Merkel's CDU and Westerwelle's FDP stipulates that the accession of additional member states should be pursued 'with a sense of proportion'. ... It will be interesting to see if, and to what extent, Westerwelle opposes this. In any event, the idea of the EU as a Christian club is not likely to please a liberal spirit." (30/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » EU Policy, » EU neighbourhood policy, » Germany, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Daniel Brössler

Eight Afghan refugees drowned off the Greek island of Lesbos last Tuesday when the boat carrying them ran into rocks and sank. For the left-leaning daily Avgi such refugees are the casualties of Greek and Turkish asylum policy. "This is an undeclared war, and the consequence of real wars. Refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq, two countries in which the Western states are waging war ... seek a more secure future on our shores. Yet they only come in contact with the social welfare paradise for a matter of seconds. ... Hundreds of migrants die every year on the Aegean front, succumbing to the waves of the ongoing Greek-Turkish disaccord [on the maritme border]. These are the victims of Turkish policy, which uses them as hostages to push through their demands [in the EU and in the conflict over maritime borders]. But they are also victims of our own country's tactics of appeasing its guilty conscience for an often barbaric attitude towards migrants with references to its 'hostile neighbour' [Turkey]." (29/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Migration, » Greece, » Europe, » Turkey

Since the political change 20 years ago many of the illusions once cherished in Central and Eastern Europe have been shattered, writes the head of the foreign policy department at Newsweek Polska Jarosław Giziński in the conservative weekly Heti Válasz: "What could we not have foreseen 20 years ago? Well, for example that we would be hit by an economic crisis without precedent in the past decades. But it is in the nature of crises that at some point they end. The bitter realisation that we are no longer a strategically important region weighs much more heavily. This has become all the more noticeable since US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed the 'restart' button on US-Russian relations. It's becoming increasingly obvious that Central and Eastern Europe have slipped down into the second league. … Let's be honest: Our computations of 20 years ago whereby a change of system would suffice to secure us relative prosperity and security were more than naïve. We still have a long way to go." (29/10/2009)

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All available articles from » Jarosław Giziński

On the occasion of the second visit to Slovenia by former US president Bill Clinton today the public television station will broadcast 90 minutes of Clinton's appearance at an economic forum. Goran Vojnovič writes in the online edition of the daily Dnevnik that enough is enough: "All of this only deepens the feeling that our society is lost in time and space, no longer able to differentiate between important and unimportant events, and glorifies former presidents from foreign states instead of our own heroes. Third-grade starlets are fawned over instead of women biologists, painters and doctors. Our society trembles for 'stars donig farm work' in a reality show instead of concerning itself with real farmers and workers. We're now so spiritually debilitated that it's no surprise at all that the same narrow minds have been leading us for years, blinded by their own narrow-mindedness. A nation that is collectively dumbstruck every time Bill Clinton comes to town has no need of a visionary to lead it." (30/10/2009)

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All available articles from » Goran Vojnovic

The heads of government of Spain, Belgium and Hungary have announced plans to cooperate during their respective EU presidencies over the coming 18 months. The business paper Cinco Días comments on the challenges from an economic point of view: "Madrid wants to prioritise the creation of high-quality jobs, increase the growth potential and maintain the indisputable prosperity of European citizens. These are commendable objectives with which the typical European can no doubt identify. But achieving these goals will require great political will to transform the old continent's model of production and growth. And this task may prove more difficult for [the Spanish government under José Luis Rodríguez] Zapatero at a time when Spain's unemployment rate has reached almost 20 percent." (30/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Economic Policy, » Spain, » Hungary, » Belgium, » Europe

The German energy company RWE has announced that it no longer wants to participate in the construction of the planned nuclear power plant in the Bulgarian city of Belene. The daily Klassa comments that this increases Russia's chances of building the power station instead: "All the more so given that it is impossible to exclude Russia from the bidding process. What kind of a reception would the Russian companies receive here? Now all the managers and politicians are talking about how the nuclear power station in Belene is a European project in terms of safety and geography. But the problem lies in the fact that 'Russian project' is synonymous with 'dangerous' in the EU, because the Chernobyl experience hasn't yet been forgotten. Therefore over the next 18 months our experts will have the highly responsible task of achieving a balance between the required energy production and safety." (30/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » Economic Policy, » Russia, » Europe, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Georgi Velev

For more than a week thousands of students at several Austrian universities have been protesting among other things against overcrowded lecture halls. With an eye to the many free places at the country's technical universities, Die Presse writes that the government should do more to stress the prospects graduates of technical colleges have. "Certainly it was quite tactless of [Minister of Science and Research] Johannes Hahn to talk of introducing student fees - unrealistic in the coalition with the SPÖ - thereby adding fuel to the flames. At the same time it is of little help when now the government leaders sit back self-contentedly and leave Hahn - who has just been nominated for Brussels as Austria's new EU commissioner - standing out in the rain. University financing is a general problem. It's not enough merely to point out that students are being welcomed with open arms by the technical colleges and institutes. More should be said about the challenges and benefits of studying there, and also about the lucrative job prospects for graduates." (29/10/2009)

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All available articles from » Erich Witzmann

In one of the last major trials against former Nazis, the former SS officer Heinrich Boere has been on trial before a court in Aachen since Wednesday. The 88-year-old, who has lived unmolested in Germany for the past 60 years, is accused of having shot three Dutch civilians in 1944. The Netherlands has done too little to convict war criminals who have fled the country, writes the daily Trouw: "This all gives the trial against Boere a bitter aftertaste. Faced with the image of an 88-year-old defendant ... people are bound to ask if it's not too late. Why should he be tried, and others not? The answer is clear: The trial must take place. Boere has already been condemned [to life imprisonment] for war crimes in the Netherlands. ... The German magistrate must now pass judgement. Just because it's taken 60 years for the victims to receive a sort of gratification is no argument for abandoning the prosecution of war criminals. Even if the defendant is now well advanced in years, it is not too late for justice to be done." (30/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » History, » Germany, » Netherlands

A 16-year-old has been sentenced in Stockholm to one year and eight months in a home for juveniles for the premeditated and brutal murder of a 15-year-old. Not long enough, the daily Expressen writes, calling for stricter sentences for juvenile delinquents. "This is a mild, not to say outrageous judgement. ... Society's view of young criminals is deeply nonchalant. The maximum sentence for a juvenile is four years in a home. In today's penal practice that means serious crimes like murder and rape are punished with a maximum of a couple of years in a juvenile detention centre. ... This is not only intolerable for the victims and their next of kin, who have to learn that society has no time for their sufferings. The juveniles themselves are also left in the lurch. ... [Such short sentences] are not long enough to treat the youths, and do not allow them to break with their criminal habits." (30/10/2009)

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For years Czech patriots have been complaining bitterly about Christmas in their country being taken over by Santa Claus, who they say is increasingly pushing the Christ Child, also a bringer of gifts in Czech tradition, into the background. The liberal daily Mladá Fronta Dnes writes that this year it will all be very different: "Does Santa Claus symbolise the current economic problems? For business people and advertising experts alike, the answer is yes. That's why Santa, the Anglo-Saxon patron of Christmas, will be much less visible in the run-up to Christmas this year. The bearded old man in his red hood could frighten away the customers, because like the crisis he comes from the West. This has prompted for example the [British] supermarket chain Tesco, one of the largest in the country, to bet on the traditional values of the Czech Christmas. In these times of global recession it doesn't seem like a good idea to advertise using the symbol of globalisation. That would be an unnecessary provocation." (29/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Religion, » Trade, » Consumers, » Weltanschauung, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Pavel Novotny