One police officer and three suspected terrorists are dead after an explosion in Madrid. Reports are that the suspects set off an explosion as police closed on the building, as part of an operation in connection with the ongoing investigations into the March 11th bombs in Madrid.
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Baden-W?rttemberg has become the first German state to ban headscarves in state schools. Unlike the controversial French ban, this one affects only teachers, not schoolgirls. Also unlike the French ban, this one is targeted solely at Muslim symbols; Christian and Jewish religious accessories remain permissible. (From the tageszeitung; link in German)
The Distance of Death
Ageing populations ‘will create crippling debt’: at least this is how one of today’s Financial Times headlines reporting on the latest Standard & Poor’s assesment of OECD sovereign debt dynamics has it.
In fact the article says S&P argue that:
“industrialised countries face crushing debt burdens – greater even than those during the second world war – unless governments make politically painful cuts in social spending in the next few years”
At the same time this weeks Economist has a special supplement on ageing prepared by ‘death of distance’ guru Frances Cairncross which argues that :
a larger generation of old folk than ever before will need support for longer than ever before from a population of working age that is shrinking continuously in absolute size for the first time since the Black Death. And the level of that support is unprecedented.
Seems bleak, doesn’t it? Crippling debt, black death: are things really that bad?
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Nail Biting Time Outside the ECB
Update: The ECB has now announced that it will leave rates unchanged for another month. This in my view is a mistake, essentially putting off the inevitable for another month – unless, that is, Trichet has info that tomorrow’s US employment numbers will be much better than expected. If not this is only going to lead to more upward pressure on the euro over the month, and a further month’s delay in offering stimulus to an overly lethargic euroland economy. I don’t buy the rapid-recovery-round-the-corner, ever-present-inflation-danger scenario.
While most observers look anxiously over to Frankfurt to see what they will finally decide, it might be worth just noting that Sweden has lowered its interest base rate. The current 2% rate is now the lowest in a century:
The Swedish Central bank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 2 per cent on Thursday, its lowest level for a century, reflecting low inflation and rising unemployment in the Nordic region’s largest economy.
In a statement the central bank said the recent decline in inflation had been “greater than anticipated,” partly due to unexpectedly low import prices but also to a weaker labour market.
I am highlighting this decision lest those of you with wicked minds have come to the conclusion that I only take note of events which confirm my preoccupations about the viability of the euro. Sweden of course voted to stay out of the euro.
In fact as I reported on Bonoboland last month:
Compared with February 2003, all the Member States registered a decrease in their annual inflation rates. The biggest relative falls were in Sweden (3.3% to 0.2%), Finland (2.1% to 0.4%) and Denmark (2.9% to 0.7%)
Two of the three countries with a marked drop in inflation are not in the euro. So clearly having control of your own monetary policy is not the be-all and end-all of the problem. You also have to get the decisions right. Now let’s see if Sweden has been bold enough with today’s move.
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Ireland’s smoking ban claims a prominent victim, reports the BBC: Fine Gael TD (that’s like an MP, only in Irish) and justice spokesman John Deasy has been thrown off the front bench for lighting up outside the parliamentary bar. (The place has since been designated a smoking area; another Irish solution for an Irish problem.)
The Lighter Side of Siberia
Andy Young over at Siberian Light has an interesting post about the Khodorkovsky open letter.
I can?t quite decide what to make of his critique of liberalism. It is obviously an attempt to destroy the last vestiges of liberalism in Russia (although, lets face it, that wouldn?t take much at this stage). But is he going to follow this up and throw himself fully behind Putin, and argue that stability is the only way to go? Or is he trying to lay the groundwork so that he can be the undisputed leader of a phoenix-like liberal resurgence in Russia? He does, after all, lay out pretty bluntly that he sees a political future for himself?
Andy has also started posting on the Central Asian Blog “The Argus” (he gets around a bit does our Andy) which as he points out has some pretty up to date info on places like Uzbekistan. Andy’s focus is on the impact of ‘external agents’ in Central Asia and the Caucasus: not least amongst these Andy’s very own ‘beloved’ EU:
Chris Patten, the EU’s Commissioner for External Relations (kind of like a foreign minster) visited Central Asia last week. And why? Well one reason, of couse, is that the EU would like a slice of lovely Central Asian oil pie…
Cyprus Referendum: A Win-Win Strategy?
Kofi Annan has announced that the UN is to proceed with the referendum on April 24 despite an apparent lack of agreement. One week into talks at the Swiss Alpine resort of Buergenstock, Annan has simply put his best face on the result and said that the island’s future is now up to its people.
“The chance is between this settlement or no settlement……This plan is fair and is designed to work.”
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Kofi Annan has now produced a final plan for Cyprus which will be put to referendums in the two halves of the island
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A Periodic Table of Blogs by Score Bard. Apparently, it has been discovered by the Instapundit last November. But I had not seen it yet and so had to express my excitement by posting this link.
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The Greek government doubts that an agreement over Cyprus will be reached before the deadline for negotiations to conclude, which will mean Kofi Annan will be required to impose a solution before referendums are held