Below is my speech on Ukraine in the House of Lords on the 25th of October. Unfortunately, time constraints forced me to leave out two bits of my argument which I will put in brackets in the text. “My Lords, I am usually put last on the speakers’ list in any debate on this topic, but I treat that as a badge of honour. I welcome the opportunity we have been given to take note. I have been taking note of the Government’s position on Ukraine for over two years now. It is unchanging: the...
Read More »Nato’s folly
There is only one acceptable end to the war in Ukraine. And it doesn’t involve giving Kyiv the weapons it would need to entirely drive Russia out Aug 14, 2024 “The nation must clearly speak with one voice,” declared Baroness Neville-Rolfe, then Conservative minister of state at the cabinet office, on 20th February 2024. No remark so neatly captures the mindset of Britain’s foreign policy and defence establishment on Ukraine. The official view, from which Labour has never...
Read More »Putin’s Casualties in the War with Ukraine
Daniel is based in western Europe where he teaches. Many of his students write essays which he posts from time to time. WE are allowed to answer his students as to the accuracy or thoughts of the essays. I am sure the news he obtains about eastern Europe is far mor accurate than what we are getting in the US about Russia and its causalities. Putin’s choice: 500,000 casualties by Daniel Zetland The one-handed economist This figure...
Read More »The Gift of Sanctions
Jamie Galbraith presented, at the EPS session at the ASSA Meetings in San Antonio, the paper published by INET. As he said there: "Despite the shock and the costs, the sanctions imposed on the Russian economy were in the nature of a gift." A type of invisible hand effect, by which the unintended effect of the policy that should supposedly benefit US allies (Ukraine) has the unintended effect of helping its alleged enemies (Russia).From the abstract:This essay analyzes a few prominent Western...
Read More »Understanding America’s Post-Industrial Economy
[unable to retrieve full-text content] GLENN DIESEN: Welcome to today’s program. My name is Glenn Diesen. I’m a professor at the University of Southeastern Norway. With me is my colleague Alexander Mercouris from the very informative and popular Duran. The guest today is none other than the excellent Michael Hudson, a very renowned economist. He’s written brilliant books, which Continue Reading The post Understanding America’s Post-Industrial Economy first...
Read More »Gasoline, Part D, and Medicare Inflationary Increases
Simple commentary. Just started to receive information on increases. Gasoline is a no brainer. We drive a fuel efficient vehicle and do five over as opposed to what others do. It is interesting to hear the complaints. Thirty-gallon gasoline tank plus fast driving and you are getting into some serious money. You can only tell them if they will listen. Most will not and get belligerent. Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to extend their voluntary...
Read More »War and Punishment
I just finished “War and Punishment: The story of Russian oppression and Ukranian resistance” by Mikhail Zygar. I’ve read several books on Russian and Ukranian history written by historians. Zygar isn’t a historian, and the style of this book is more of a reporter, albeit one describing history.The writing here is vivid, if somewhat quirky. Zygar toggles frequently between present and past tense, which is sometimes distracting but can enliven the...
Read More »America has Just Destroyed a Great Empire
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Herodotus (History, Book 1.53) tells the story of Croesus, king of Lydia c. 585-546 BC in what is now Western Turkey and the Ionian shore of the Mediterranean. Croesus conquered Ephesus, Miletus and neighboring Greek-speaking realms, obtaining tribute and booty that made him one of the richest rulers of his time. But these victories and Continue Reading The post America has Just Destroyed a Great Empire first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Read More »Tom Palley on the Causes and Consequences of the War in Ukraine
By Thomas Palley(1) The origins of the Ukraine conflict lie in the ambitions of US Neocons. Those ambitions threatened Russian national security by fuelling eastward expansion of NATO and anti-Russian regime change in the Republics of the former Soviet Union.(2) The Ukraine conflict is now a proxy war. The US is using Ukraine to attack and weaken Russia.(3) Russia will eventually prevail. We may already be approaching “game over” because Ukraine’s forces have been eviscerated. Ukraine is...
Read More »Speech on “Ukraine: Tactical Nuclear Weapons”
My Lords, I am grateful, as we all are, to the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, for initiating this debate and for drawing attention to the real danger of nuclear escalation. I am in profound disagreement with the Government’s policy on Ukraine—I have said it before in this House and I shall say it again. This disagreement can be stated in one sentence: the Government’s policy is a war policy; I support a peace policy. I shall try to justify that. The then Foreign...
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