Greece’s political and economic prospects are fragile

Significance Thus ends eight years of economic policy oversight by the ECB, European Stability Mechanism and IMF, in exchange for some 275 billion euros (315 billion dollars) in soft loans. To obtain authorisation for the final disbursement, the government had to agree to what amounted to an unofficial fourth package of reforms without further financial assistance. Impacts Markets will demand a premium to purchase Greek sovereign debt until economic policy crystallises and the political situation clarifies. An increase in the minimum wage and the restoration of collective bargaining could revive private consumption. Private investment will depend on the availability of foreign direct investment for the privatisation programme.

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
LEONARDO WELLER

The London House of Rothschild depended on Brazil to maintain its reputation. This became a problem in the 1890s, when the Brazilian government almost defaulted on its sovereign debt after a change of regime had made politics unstable and economic policy unorthodox. This article shows how the relationship between the bank and the state developed to the point that Rothschilds was forced to rescue its client. Exposure enabled Brazil to implement policies designed to defend the regime at the expense of payment capacity without defaulting. The debt crisis ended only after the political situation stabilized toward the close of the century, when the bank pressured the government to tighten economic policy.


Subject The effect of the sacking of the central bank governor. Significance The Algerian cabinet decided on May 31 to replace the long-serving governor of the central bank, Mohammed Laksaci, with Mohammed Loukal, the CEO of the government-owned Exterior Bank of Algeria. The cabinet did not explain the decision, which was issued in the name of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, but the governor had come under criticism from political figures because of the sharp depreciation of the Algerian dinar, and the erosion of foreign exchange reserves. Impacts Loukal will come under pressure to ease import controls, while defending the dinar. Given weak external accounts, further depreciation of the dinar on the black market is likely, along with further erosion of reserves. The government will soon need to resort to international borrowing, which will bring fresh scrutiny of its economic policies. The central bank governor sacking is most likely related to the political struggles within the establishment on who will succeed Bouteflika.


Significance A month previously, the ECOWAS had reiterated its displeasure over the lack of progress in resolving the ongoing political impasse and issued an ultimatum to political actors to implement the 2016 Conakry Agreement or face sanctions. The UN has also threatened to initiate punitive measures if the political situation deteriorates further between President Jose Mario Vaz and his ruling party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). Impacts Given the risk of a military coup, ECOWAS is likely to retain some of its troops until after the 2018 legislative election. A court action by two banks against the government could endanger IMF loans and donors' budgetary support. Ongoing political instability could lead to increased activities by organised criminal and terrorist networks.


Significance The government is facing increasingly bitter schisms within the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) as it goes into a presidential election year. The holiday period saw street protests from traditionally loyal constituencies amid intensifying food and medical shortages. November inflation reportedly reached 56.7%, with accumulated eleven-month inflation estimated at 1,370.0%. Impacts There is little to unify the PSUV’s disparate constituencies, opening the prospect of intense conflict on the political left. Grassroots protests indicate dissatisfaction but not necessarily disaffection with the government. Despite a hyperinflationary spiral, no immediate change in economic policy is expected.


Significance He appears to have weathered this early political storm, achieving notable successes in areas such as tax reform. However, the political outlook remains uncertain, with a likely COVID-19 resurgence heralding new challenges in 2022. Impacts Containing the spread of the Omicron variant will be a priority for Lasso in the coming months. A pandemic resurgence would place downward pressure on economic growth and tax collection. Tax reforms will please international investors and support efforts to attract foreign direct investment to stimulate economic activity.


Significance The region’s current tax and spending policies redistribute very little. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a deep and persistent recession, despite new spending, tax cuts and monetary easing aimed at limiting the damage. In December, the government of Argentina, which was particularly hard hit, passed a temporary (and additional) net wealth tax on the very richest households. Impacts OECD-led transparency efforts offer the long-sought possibility of taxing the foreign assets of wealthy Latin Americans. The pandemic will increase both existing inequalities and the need for tax revenues to finance social welfare and stimulus spending. Efforts to strengthen tax collection more broadly will likely be undertaken by governments across the political spectrum.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-91
Author(s):  
M.Yu. Martynova ◽  
◽  
D.M. Feoktistova ◽  
◽  

the author analyzes the problems of the activity and development of the political elite. The current political situation in Russia puts forward new requirements for the functioning of the management system of state institutions and determines the need for professionally trained, highly moral personnel of the modern political elite. The paper considers the possibility of introducing modern and progressive mechanisms of interaction between the government and society – crowdsourcing, which involves the wide involvement of citizens with an active civic position and public associations in the process of public discussion and political decision-making.


Author(s):  
Mikhail E. Razinkov

On the basis of published and previously unexplored archival materials from Voronezh, Orel, Kursk, Tambov, Bryansk, the self-organization and relationship with the government of entrepreneurs of the Central Black Earth Region in the period from spring 1917 to summer 1918 is studied. Studying this social group is important for understanding the balance of power in the region. The author comes to the conclusion that entrepreneurs, despite their active participation in political life in the spring and summer of 1917, due to the preservation of traditional ideas about power and the desire to protect and enhance their rights, could not have a significant impact on the development of the political situation in the region. Entrepreneurs did not enjoy exclusive support from government bodies, including government, which refutes the concept that existed in Soviet historiography about the bourgeois nature of the February regime. Moreover, in resolving conflicts, the authorities in 1917 tried to take into account, first of all, the interests of workers. This situation worsened even more for the bourgeoisie with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, who not only supported workers' demands, but also openly robbed entrepreneurs with the help of indemnities. Nevertheless, in order to maintain peace, the Soviet government (especially by the summer of 1918) tried to resolve relations between workers and employers for mutual benefit. At the same time, during the period under study, conflicts between workers and employers reached a high intensity relatively rarely, leaving room for agreements and dialogue, which, however, narrowed.


Author(s):  
Claudio Sopranzetti

This epilogue follows the life of the motorcycle taxi drivers and the political situation in Thailand since the 2014 military coup. In particular, it explores how the government of Prayth Cha-o-cha is attempting to cement the cracks that the Red Shirts mobilization revealed in 2010. Once again, the chapter argues, these plans will not be completely successful and will create unintended consequences that will expose new fragility in the power of state forces.


2021 ◽  
pp. 275-312
Author(s):  
Christophe Jaffrelot ◽  
Pratinav Anil

This chapter focuses on the internal factors that led to the declaration of the Emergency. It primarily explores Mrs Gandhi’s authoritarian personality and the deinstitutionalisation of the Congress Party. The power structure within the Congress, especially after Mrs Gandhi split the party in 1969, meant that checks and balances ceased to exist. This factionalism enabled her to impose her authoritarian tendencies on the government as safeguards were dismantled. The chapter further explores the relation between authoritarianism and populism. It uses the political situation in India from the late 1960s to the early 1970s as an illustration. Mrs Gandhi, like other populist leaders, was convinced that she was the people of India. This idea was epitomised by D. K. Barooah’s slogan: ‘Indira is India and India is Indira.’


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