[PEN-L] Kyoto day today: a green-left critique

Kyoto: What's to Celebrate? While many are celebrating the Kyoto Protocol's entering into force on February 16, others are finding cause for grave concern. A group of social and environmental activists and communities from around the world concerned about the climate crisis, the Durban Group, charg

[PEN-L] more on the Academics Behaving Badly front..........

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1415508,00.html Historians in cahoots Tristram Hunt Wednesday February 16, 2005 Guardian In his messianic inauguration address, President Bush spoke of America's global duty being defined by "the history we have seen together". Inevitably, this was a re

Re: [PEN-L] PPP: a new article

Thanks to Gernot for this point. Yes, one can find some examples that show neo-liberalism in a poorer light while still using the PPP model to recalculate GDP growth rates. And no surprise that neo-classics and institutions like the WB and the IMF do not choose to do this (in July on Pen-l, Mike L

[PEN-L] A quiz

A Social Justice Quiz: Twenty Questions - by Bill Quigley 1. In 1968 the minimum wage was $1.60 per hour. How much would the minimum wage be today if it had kept pace with inflation? 2. In 1965, CEOs in major companies made 24 times more than the average worker. In 2003, CEOs earned how many times

[PEN-L] Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller One of our Greatest Political Artists by Louis Proyect (Swans - February 14, 2005) Arthur Miller, one of our greatest political artists, died at the age of 89 on February 11, 2005. Although none of his other plays received the critical acclaim of "Death of a Salesman," his reputa

[PEN-L] Politics of Finance.......................

PATRICK BOND Bankrupt Africa: Imperialism, Subimperialism and the Politics of Finance... ^ Patrick, What are the politics of finance ? :>) Charles

[PEN-L] Chinese economic growth

NY Times, February 15, 2005 Car Clones and Other Tales of the Mighty Economic Engine Known as China By WILLIAM GRIMES CHINA INC. How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World By Ted C. Fishman 342 pages. Scribner. $26. If the 20th was the American century, then the 21st belon

[PEN-L] the "fighting moderates"

[PK endorses Dean as a "fighting moderate." [Re: the quote from COUNTERPUNCH: Dean was right, at least _prima facie_. If I were running a small state (or a small country), I'd also strive to balance it's budget -- for current expenditures and revenues, not the capital-investment account. Getting

[PEN-L] FW: Groundhog Day (a little late)

February 2 was Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address. The juxtaposition was ironic: One involved a meaningless ritual in which we look to a hideous little creature of marginal intelligence for prognostication.  The other involves a groundhog. Jim Devine

[PEN-L] Noxious academics

(Go to: http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2005/02/noxious-academics.html. The article below has embedded links that are well worth pursuing.) Noxious academics Saturday, February 12, 2005 One of the most striking right-wing witchhunts of recent vintage is the campaign against University of Colorado prof

Re: [PEN-L] Indexing Social Security benefits

Max B. Sawicky wrote: There is a wage index used -- don't ask me how it's calculated -- and only for a few years in the late 70s did it rise more slowly than prices. There is no dispute that a switch to price indexing would mean an enormous benefit cut. The stats on this are available at the web p

[PEN-L] Churchill's statement

URL:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_3512084,00.html   Churchill's statementJanuary 31, 2005The following is a statement from Ward Churchill:    In the last few days there has been widespread and grossly inaccuratemedia coverage concern

Re: [PEN-L] PPP: a new article

Paul wrote Sat, 12 Feb 2005 I pointed out various reasons to believe that the PPP method has 'biases' that may automatically show progress in many parts of the "3rd world" (reducing >poverty, closing the gap with the "developed" world) even if nothing in the "3rd world" had >actually changed. Gran

[PEN-L] Significant legal victory against transnationals from European Court

http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1415031,00.html The ruling is likely to be warmly welcomed by other social campaigners and groups. Mr Morris, speaking ahead of the ruling, said today he and Ms Steel felt completely vindicated. Mr Morris told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "There's gro

Re: [PEN-L] Indexing Social Security benefits

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005, Max B. Sawicky wrote: There is a wage index used -- don't ask me how it's calculated -- But Max, how can I not? And lord, if you don't know, who does? and only for a few years in the late 70s did it rise more slowly than prices. Rather than having a different wage index, wouldn