We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Russia Versus Ukraine: The Court Case and the IMF

Click here to access article by Alexander Mercouris posted on Russia Insider.

This is chiefly a response to Michael Hudson's article in which he interpreted the new IMF rule changes as posing dire consequences for both Russia and China. Mercouris brings his legal experience to contribute to an understanding of this very complicated situation. 
In his article Michael Hudson worries that before long no Western court will recognise a loan owed to China or Russia, allowing states to default on loans to those countries with impunity.

One day it may indeed come to that.  However for the moment the situation is not quite as bad as Michael Hudson thinks.