The Crisis Of (Nordic) Social Democracy

It is therefore not only the crisis of social democracy we are experiencing but that of the compromise-based post-war political model in Europe. In the first phase of this political crisis, new far right parties emerged – viz. Front National in France, the so-called freedom parties in Austria and the Netherlands, and the Progress Party in Norway. The lack of any alternative policy from social democratic and left-wing parties means they must take their share of responsibility for this development. They had no policy to take on the neoliberalist attacks on the social gains that had been won through the welfare state. In recent years, however, we have seen that new political alternatives have started to grow also on the left (Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain, Momentum in the UK, and the newly established Power to the People in Italy). These are young and incomplete initiatives, which can fail (like Syriza) or succeed, but in any case will further develop through struggles and experiences, victories and defeats.

via The Crisis Of (Nordic) Social Democracy

Iceland Alone and Latvia Captured

Valdis Dombrovskis (then prime minister of Latvia) co-authored a 2011 book entitled ‘How Latvia Came Through the Financial Crisis’. As the book documents, the rescue package for Latvia was not put together in Latvia’s capital Riga or in a neutral third country. Rather “Swedish Minister of Finance Anders Borg called the closest friends of Latvia to an emergency meeting at Arlanda airport.” They did not even bother to go to downtown Stockholm.

In his book Dombrovskis describes this meeting as “a kind of auction.” This was a rescue package for foreign banks more than the Latvian public. General Government Debt as percentage of GDP was very small in the Baltics when the crisis hit but during the bank rescue they increased in all the Baltic States; according to the IMF, in Latvia from 7 percent in 2007 to 40 percent in 2010.

via Iceland Alone and Latvia Captured

Η δυστοπία είναι εδώ: Εμφυτεύματα μικροτσίπ σε εργάτες

Η «Epicenter» φιλοξενεί πάνω από 100 εταιρείες και περίπου 2.000 εργαζομένους και άρχισε την εμφύτευση των τσιπ στους εργαζόμενους τον Ιανουάριο του 2015. Τώρα, περίπου 150 εργαζόμενοι έχουν εμφυτευμένα τσιπ. Μια εταιρεία με έδρα στο Βέλγιο «προσφέρει» επίσης τους υπαλλήλους της για εμφύτευση και υπάρχουν μεμονωμένες περιπτώσεις σε όλο τον κόσμο όπου λάτρεις της τεχνολογίας το έχουν δοκιμάσει τα τελευταία χρόνια.

via Η δυστοπία είναι εδώ: Εμφυτεύματα μικροτσίπ σε εργάτες

A lot of offices are already working almost like consultancies. There’s no need for managers to have all their workers in the office at the same time, they just want to get the results and people have to deliver,” he says.

“Compare that to the assistant nurses – they can’t just leave work to go to the dentist or to the doctors or the hairdressers.”

“So I don’t think people should start with the question of whether or not to have reduced hours.

via What really happened when Swedes tried six-hour days? – BBC News

Private debt in Europe – Debtors’ prison | The Economist

High household debt helps explain why the Netherlands, along with Italy and Spain, remained in recession in the second quarter of 2013 even as the euro area in general embarked on recovery. Dutch GDP this year will be 2% lower than in 2011 and more than 3% below its previous peak, in 2008. Though this loss of output is dwarfed by that suffered in southern Europe, it illustrates the malign effect of high debt when house prices fall—recent declines have been close to those in Spain. That has pushed a quarter of Dutch homeowners into “negative equity”: their houses are worth less than their mortgages.

via Debtors’ prison | The Economist.

Σουηδία: Τέλος το 8ωρο, εφαρμογή 6ωρου με ίδιες αποδοχές | TVXS – TV Χωρίς Σύνορα

Το δημοτικό συμβούλιο του Γκέτεμποργκ της Σουηδίας αποφάσισε να μειώσει τις ώρες εργασίας σε έξι, καταργώντας το οκτάωρο στις δημοτικές υπηρεσίες και διατηρώντας παράλληλα τις αποδοχές στο ίδιο επίπεδο.

via Σουηδία: Τέλος το 8ωρο, εφαρμογή 6ωρου με ίδιες αποδοχές | TVXS – TV Χωρίς Σύνορα.