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How GAFA can bully banks0
- Financial Policy and International Markets, Op-ed
- 27/02/2019
Facebook and Apple allow their users to exchange money with one another. Amazon grants loans to its sellers and is about to offer checking accounts to its younger users. Google Pay is the perfect online substitute for our analogical wallet. How long will it take before the GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) enter the banking club officially? Should commercial banks feel threatened by the big tech companies?
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Justice denied: Voiceless in Guantanamo4
- Human Rights and Migration, Op-ed
- 22/02/2019
No charge, no trial, no conviction; only hours of torture and interrogation. The Guantanamo Bay Detention Center is a “secret” prison where kidnappings, forced disappearances and degrading prison conditions makes lives of detainees, a living hell. Prisoner rights are mostly not a popular topic of debate. But, can rights be called so if they can be dismissed so effortlessly?
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Roma integration programmes can actually make a real difference1
- Op-ed, Social and Economic Policy
- 18/02/2019
An integration project in a village in eastern Slovakia, Spišský Hrhov, is a success story of Roma inclusion. It sets an example for policy-making and strategic targeting of funding for both the EU and other Member States. The EU urgently has to achieve higher value for money in future integration efforts.
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Energy policy of China: myth or success?0
- Environment and Energy, Op-ed
- 14/02/2019
China tries to find itself in the chaotic era of energy transition.
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Matera Capital of Culture 2019: an ‘open future’ with closed ports?1
On January 19th 2019, Matera’s cave-dwelling districts, better known as “Sassi”, opened up to national and international guests and musicians for the celebration of its title as 2019 European Capital of Culture (ECOC).
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The Amazonian forest price tag: trade benefits vs environment and human rights1
Indigenous leaders called on the European Union to not grant bigger access to its agricultural market until Brazilian president Bolsonaro refrains from deforesting the Amazonian rainforest and cutting back indigenous rights. The EU has a responsibility to preserve the environment for future generations.
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Should the EU care about civic and political opposition in Hungary?0
It became almost impossible to pretend that Hungary is still a democracy. The autocratic tendencies of Orban’s regime are difficult to counteract without strengthening the existent civic and political opposition that is being intimidated by the police state.
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The Devil’s Duplicates: The trouble twins of Madagascar14
- Human Rights and Migration, Op-ed
- 28/01/2019
You might be surprised to learn that the village of Mananjary in Madagascar believes its twins are cursed and carry misfortune.
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What if central banks meddle with cryptocurrencies?1
- Financial Policy and International Markets, Op-ed
- 02/01/2019
Cryptocurrencies were set to disrupt and completely revolutionize the use and the very concept of money. Yet, 10 years on from the launch of Bitcoin — the pioneer among cryptocurrencies — cash is still alive and well, and the digital currency revolution is not in sight. The economic institution to revive the hype around digital currencies may be one above any suspicion: the central bank.
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