Yesterday I wrote about my extracurricular activities at the University of Michigan back in the 1980s. Although I moved to Europe after graduating in 1991, I am still attune to the Michigan / Michigan State rivalry and must grudgingly concede one point where Moo U tops Big Blue: mascots. MSU has Sparty. Michigan has a … Continue reading Sparty rocks!
Book Recommendation: Epitaph for a Spy
If you enjoy old school crime fiction and are looking for an entertaining fast paced read for the weekend, get a copy of Eric Ambler’s Epitaph for a Spy. Written and set in 1938, it casts an unlikely protagonist into the role of spy. Josef Vadassy is a language teacher of Hungarian descent. He is … Continue reading Book Recommendation: Epitaph for a Spy
Correcting the EU’s failed immigration policy
This is the third in a series of slightly longer posts drawing on some of my academic work. Following up on my last post, here I propose an alternative to current failed EU immigration policies. As Europeans we stand before a caesura. Our unity, our democratic institutions, our belief in the inviolability of human dignity, … Continue reading Correcting the EU’s failed immigration policy
The true legacy of the Cold War
This is the second in a series of slightly longer posts drawing on some of my academic work. Following up on my last post, here I examine how post Cold War hubris has laid the groundwork for current Europe nationalism and xenophobia. When the Berlin Wall fell, neoconservative policy makers in the West broke into … Continue reading The true legacy of the Cold War
It was early morning yesterday …
… I was up before the dawn. Actually, early morning yesterday I was not up before the dawn, but today I was. If Rick Davies was truly up before the dawn yesterday I don’t know. There is a decent probability that he was, however, because today at 3:00 A.M. we set the clocks back one … Continue reading It was early morning yesterday …
Knocking down the walls
Today marks 30 years of German Reunification, and next week classes start again at the Karl-Franzens-Universität. One seminar I will be taking sounds very promising – The Desire for Walls After 1989. The course description : Thirty years ago the wall between East and West Germany fell. For many people, 1989 was also seen as … Continue reading Knocking down the walls
Hyperinflation around the corner?
Yesterday in a great op-ed piece in Die Presse, Christian Ortner examined COVID 19 the economic stimulus packages and asked the provocative question: What’s the difference between a talented counterfeiter and the European Central Bank? According to Ortner, not much. In 2020 economic output in the eurozone has fallen by 7-8% and the ECB has … Continue reading Hyperinflation around the corner?
