Auteur/autrice : Heidi Barathieu-Brun

how tiny state rubber-stamped tax avoidance on an industrial scale – Leaked documents show that one of the EU’s smallest states helped multinationals save millions in tax, to the detriment of its neighbours and allies – Published on The Guardian, by Simon Bowers, Nov 5, 2014. (See also: Audio – Irish Times Business Podcast: Lux Leaks, 19.44 min).

An unprecedented international investigation into tax deals struck with Luxembourg has uncovered the multi-billion dollar tax secrets of some of the world’s largest multinational corporations.

A cache of almost 28,000 pages of leaked tax agreements, returns and other sensitive papers relating to over 1,000 businesses paints a damning picture of an EU state which is quietly rubber-stamping tax avoidance on an industrial scale.   Continuer la lecture de « Tax avoidance – Luxembourg tax files »

Published on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin no. 1052, by Pedro Marlez, Nov 6, 2014.

… The Spanish political crisis is advancing slowly but inexorably. In the last five or six months we have witnessed a series of events that have exacerbated the process of decomposition: the turbulence produced by the European elections, the succession to the throne, the most serious corruption scandals to surface for generations, and the conflict between the central government and Catalonia. The right-wing government of [Prime Minister] Mariano Rajoy has sought relief in macroeceonomic data, but the optimism expressed is groundless: no figures are available to show a solid recovery, with the exception of the fall in unemployment, which is explicable on the basis of a seasonally favourable situation in the services sector. The period to come will be very difficult for the government, even decisive in different areas of conflict … // Continuer la lecture de « The “Consultation” in Catalonia: A New Episode in the Political Crisis of Spain »

Published on Axis of Logic (first on teleSUR), by Ezequiel Adamovsky, Nov 5, 2014.

Announcements by the World Bank, the IMF; and other neoliberal think tanks, that poverty is decreasing and the middle class increasing is just a fantasy that stems from ideologically biased research programs and conceptions of poverty … //

… All this, of course, is nothing but a fantasy that stems from ideologically biased research programs and conceptions of poverty. In the past decades, international organizations and think tanks have produced a subtle shift in the way we understand poverty and class differences. We used to think of both as relations: there is no poverty in itself, but only in relation to wealth; one can only be of “lower” condition by contrast to the “higher” class. Continuer la lecture de « Poverty, World Hunger: Time for a relational approach »

Published on AlJazeera, November 5, 2014: Aid agencies say thousands being monitored for signs of Ebola in Sierra Leone are venturing out to find food.

… Kamara said that because services are not reaching them, people who are being monitored for signs of Ebola – and should be staying at home – are venturing out to markets to look for food, potentially contaminating many others.

Christian Aid’s coordinator said that with infections still on the rise, it was difficult for the government to keep up with the number of people being monitored for the disease. « The number is just rising exponentially, » she said. « The speed with which we have to have such a robust system of planning and coordination » is too fast.

Continuer la lecture de « Ebola quarantines violated in search of food »

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Anne Seith, Nov 3, 2014 (Photo Gallery – A Growing Rift Between Central Bankers – translated from the German by Christopher Sultan).

To prevent dangerous deflation, the ECB is discussing a massive program to purchase government bonds. watchdogs are divided over the measure, with some alleging that central bankers are being held hostage by politicians … //

… A Heated Dispute: Continuer la lecture de « Monetary Fallacy? Deep Divisions Emerge over ECB Quantitative Easing Plans – part 1 »