Rhein on Energy and Climate

Durban will not save the world

Diplomatic conferences rarely end with a failure! Diplomats do not like being accused of failure. This goes in particular for long conferences with thousands of participants which cost millions of euro. The 17th international climate conference, COP 17 in the official jargon, that ended in the dawn of Sunday 11th December, 36 hours after its… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

2011 will go into European history as an “annum horribilis”, fraught with panic, uncertainties and political ineptitude. But in five years from now it will also be praised as a year of major reforms that have consolidated the euro-zone and made the EU fitter for the huge socio-economic challenges waiting at the horizon. It has… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Since 1995 Transparency International, the Berlin-based, international non-governmental organisation, committed to the fight against corruption, has published global corruption reports, which rank the perceptions of corruption in 183 countries. The 2011 report that has come out December 1st confirms a common impression: wealthy countries that internalise protestant ethics are performing best, followed by those with… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

EU countries would benefit from joint bond emissions to finance their public debt. Joint bonds would create a huge market comparable to that for US federal debt and enable governments to secure better terms thanks to higher liquidity. Joint bond emissions will have to be guaranteed by all participating countries. In order to secure low… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Durban will be a non-event

The 17th international climate conference (COP 17) that opened November 28 will not produce any worth while results. This is – unfortunately – a foregone conclusion whatever final declaration might be adopted at the closure in two weeks. The conference cannot be productive for four major reasons. Europe finds itself in the worst economic and… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Nine months since the toppling of President Mubarak Egypt continues to be more firmly than ever under control by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Contrary to earlier promises parliamentary elections did not take place in September but are now set for November 29. Presidential elections originally scheduled for November are unlikely to take… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The re-elected Polish government is determined to tackle far-reaching economic and fiscal reforms in order to prepare the country for future uncertainties and challenges. It wants to put its public finances in order in view of joining the Euro-zone when the present crisis will have been resolved.. To that end, it aims at reducing its… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

After having given a serious warning in mid-October to the Syrian regime and insisted on stopping violence against peaceful demonstrators the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in distant Morocco have decided to suspend Syrian membership as of November 16. On November 16, they gave Syria another three days respite in return for allowing an Arab… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The euro-zone is undergoing an existential crisis, which can be attributed to three fundamental causes: a mismatch of economic governance among euro-zone member countries; an insufficient oversight of national economic and fiscal policies; the absence of effective sanctions against non-compliance with joint policy rules. The present crisis is the result of more than 10 years… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein