Month: January 2013

As our political and economic circumstances are among the best in the world, we need to fill them with life. The opportunities to create growth and prosperity are there, we now have to embrace the idea of a growing population to seize them.

As it turns out, even countries smaller than Greece can still turn into major headaches for Europe’s policymakers. The country in question is the island nation of Cyprus.

Surprisingly, readers of this column often ask me: who is going to win this year’s German federal election? I find it so surprising because the result, just about nine months ahead of election day, already looks like a foregone conclusion.

When Cameron finally delivers his long-awaited speech on Europe, he now faces a real choice. Will he actually say something substantial on the issue, risking a confrontation with his party, his coalition partner, the public, the media, and of course his European colleagues? Or will he once more try to please everyone?

Perhaps Gérard Depardieu mainly left France because he refused to believe that high income earners like him should be allowed to keep at least about half their earnings. He probably also wanted to be better governed. Or maybe he just wanted to live in a country that left him a little more air to breathe as a free man.