Should Germany Exit the Euro?
Last summer, financier George Soros urged Germany to agree to the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism, calling on the country to “lead or leave.” Now he says that Germany should exit the euro if it continues to block the introduction of eurobonds. Soros is playing with fire. Leaving the eurozone is precisely what the [...]
Is the ‘Race’ Race Finally Over?
It’s been an interesting month at Biber, the hip Viennese magazine for second-generation migrants. The April cover feature, “Mischlinge: Erkennst du den Mix?” – a kind of match-the-faces-to-the-races quiz – stirred critiques from the major Vienna newspapers followed by a long trail of impassioned comments on social media platforms. Mischling is a tricky word to [...]
Stronach’s Test in Tyrol
There was one consolation for Frank Stronach in the regional elections in Tyrol on 28 April: His namesake East Tyrolean village of Iselberg-Stronach supported his “Team Stronach” with 17%, or 49 votes of its 617 inhabitants. With the first exit polls published at 17:00, it was clear that the remarkable result – Frank’s party came [...]
Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself
In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, fear mongering was rampant.The news coverage was sensationalised and empathy selectively applied. It was a media race to racism, immediate and disturbingly familiar. Everyone wanted to be the first to report on the identity, nationality and ethnicity of the culprits. But surely, reality was bad enough. The [...]
Helmut Schüller on God’s Mysterious Ways
“God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform!” my grandmother would tell me, quoting the poet William Cowper, in moments when my curiosity had stretched too far. She liked to retreat into literature to avoid unpleasantness and keep ‘unmentionables’ where they belong. I have wondered what she would have had to say about [...]
Letters to the Editor: March 2013
To the Editor In urging the British Prime Minister to rethink his position on Europe, Joschka Fischer (“Eclipse of British Reason”, TVR February 2013) advises David Cameron to re-read Winston Churchill’s 1946 speech at the University of Zurich. He quotes approvingly Churchill’s words “We must build a kind of United States of Europe.” Revealingly, Fischer [...]
PM Boyko Borisov Jumps from a Galloping Horse
Sometimes history rides on the fastest horse, and the landscape changes quicker than you can imagine. In early February, Bulgarians received unexpected, shockingly high electricity bills. Scattered protests erupted, then on Sunday, 17 February, about 100,000 gathered in the centre of Sofia and other big cities. The next day, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov nudged out [...]
GmbH-Neu: Easing Business Start-ups
On 22 March, Justice Minister Beatrix Karl and Economics Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner presented the government’s proposal for revised rules for setting up new companies in Austria – specifically lowering the required capital to register a GmbH or limited company, and reducing fees. The aim is to lower the barriers for starting new businesses. “A strong [...]
Lost Generation?
The Great Continent has gone through some precarious times. To deal with the debts and imbalances emerging from the financial crisis of 08-09, European governments embraced chilling austerity measures to curb government spending. Too often, young people have borne the brunt of this crisis. Budget cuts and lower investment have curtailed education and later employment [...]
House EditorialMay 17, 2013No CommentRead More