by Sheri Berman on 30th March 2020 The coronavirus crisis may be a natural disaster but, Sheri Berman writes, how governments are responding is a product of their politics. An old adage has it that crises don’t make a person,…
Category: Columns
Europe fail to address Covid-19: Need for health citizenship
by Joan Costa-Font on 30th March 2020 A Europe-wide public-health authority should be a priority to counteract collective-action problems among EU member states. The Covid-19 crisis is not just the most important health crisis that higher-income countries have suffered over…
Coronavirus: World War III is here
Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, spoke about the importance of washing one’s hands and self-isolation 1,400 years ago! Sir Frank Peters World War III has begun without a single shot being fired. For the first time in history, countries have…
Remove baseless fears about funeral of covid-19 dead bodies
Mostafa Kamal Majumder The refusal to accept bodies of coronavirus victims for burial at graveyards in Dhaka City has come as a shock to all. The social media is filled with messages like this. The management of one graveyard in…
Covid-19: Misinformation, education and the need for clarity
By Hassnal Noor Rashid The recent explosion of COVID-19 cases in the South East Asian region has contributed to the globally growing pandemic that has impacted our global social order and may have many dramatic unforeseen consequences to come It…
COVID-19 in the Time of Insecurity
By HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan AMMAN, Jordan, Mar 26 2020 (IPS) – Humankind has outlived multiple pandemics in the course of world history. The kingdoms and states of Central and Western Europe…
Prices paid in the war against coronavirus
Mostafa Kamal Majumder The entire human race is in the grip of the coronavirus scare. The invisible enemy is so dreadful and deadly that even the frontline warriors including doctors and nurses are among its victims. Not even Chinese doctor…
Fighting coronavirus: It’s time to invest in universal public health
By Isabel Ortiz and Thomas Stubbs NEW YORK and LONDON, Mar 23 2020 (IPS) – Austerity policies pushed by international financial institutions have weakened public health systems, despite current financial support packages, condemning many people to die. As health systems…
Coronavirus crisis: Now is the hour of Modern Monetary Theory
by Peter Bofinger on 23rd March 2020 @PeterBofinger Peter Bofinger argues MMT provides intellectual justification for a ‘whatever it takes’ fiscal response to potentially the biggest global postwar economic challenge.
Europe under quarantine
by Javier López on 20th March 2020 @fjavilopez The coronavirus crisis has exposed the shared vulnerability of Europe’s interdependence. Time to turn that into a strength. Europe is facing a new stress test. And, this time, it is not only…
Behind a ravaged Tara
Sudhirendar Sharma The gut-wrenching cars smashing scenes in Rohit Shetty’s films have their share of dirty secrets too. We all love watching movies – at home, in theatre or on phone – little realizing that we are complicit in the…
Coronavirus could save more lives eventually
It’s a scientific fact that washing hands has the potential to save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention Sir Frank Peters: They say “every cloud has a silver lining”, which means that even the worst events or…
Plagues and People – The Coronavirus in a Historical Perspective
By Jan Lundius STOCKHOLM / ROME, Mar 19 2020 (IPS) – The human factor is intimately involved in the origin, spread, and mitigation of the Coronavirus and we cannot afford to ignore that our future existence depends on compassion and…
Preventing the next virus outbreak
Michal Rotem The coronavirus is not a natural disaster but the outcome of a system of agriculture subordinating animal, and human, welfare.
The corona crisis will define our era
Karin Pettersson Karin Pettersson writes that the pandemic has highlighted the frailties of a short-sighted and hyper-individualistic social system.
A great equaliser
by Branko Milanovic @BrankoMilan Branko Milanovic writes that the coronavirus is reminding some of the world’s privileged what it is like to experience its daily stigmas.
Swift action can help limit economic harm of coronavirus
Ceyla Pazarbasioglu The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has already exacted a high cost in human life and has been recognized for what it is—a global health emergency. As the virus spreads around the globe, the question now is whether lives…
Whose is the European Green Deal?
Albena Azmanova The challenges of social and environmental injustice are as intense as ever. But which social forces can act as the agents of change?
Coronavirus: Ten reasons why you ought not to panic
By Ignacio López-Goñi Mar 7 2020 (IPS) – Regardless of whether we classify the new coronavirus as a pandemic, it is a serious issue. In less than two months, it has spread over several continents. Pandemic means the sustained and…
The economic effects of a pandemic
Simon Wren-Lewis The human effects of the coronavirus are paramount. But what will be its impact on a medium-sized economy such as that of the UK?
Strong children, strong democracy
by Heinz Sünker on 3rd March 2020 Educational research models children as autonomous actors. Education policy, notably in Germany, still, however, aims to guide innate capacities into adulthood.
Curiously, for once everything about it is French!
Sudhirendar Sharma I have come to realize that my connection with the French goes beyond the gust of wind and the burst of fire, the proverbial reference to the deadly Mirage and the destructive Rafale. Perhaps, fashion and wines have…
There can be no green peace without gender equality
By Jennifer Morgan AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands, Mar 5 2020 (IPS) – Gender inequality – like the climate emergency – is not inevitable, but is kept in place by the poor choices too many cis men make on a daily basis.…
The trade unions organising migrant workers across Europe
by Bethany Staunton on 5th March 2020 @StauntonBethany Migrant workers are by nature more diverse than the indigenous workers among whom they find themselves. Organising strategies need to be diverse too.
Coronavirus exposes global economic vulnerability
By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 4 2020 (IPS) – As the outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 threatens a global pandemic, major stock markets around the world have suffered their worst performance since…
Hard truths about the eurozone crisis
There has been little honest reflection within the European Commission about the eurozone crisis. Until now.
Life starts with everyone clapping
Sudhirendar SharmaThe pun in his remark got me clapping involuntarily. Wonder, how else could anyone react to famous rapper and Grammy winner Jay-Z holding former US President Bill Clinton as the ultimate rock star, “people clap in a restaurant when…
Fossil-Fuel Exporters Must Rethink Monetary Policy
by Rabah Arezki WASHINGTON, DC – In a 2015 speech, Mark Carney, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, sparked a debate about whether monetary policymakers should look beyond the horizon of the business and credit cycles to ensure…
Landing a Blow Against Climate Change
by Ibrahim Thiaw BONN – In the face of climate change, providing reliable supplies of renewable energy to all who need it has become one of the biggest development challenges of our time. Meeting the international community’s commitment to keep…
Including racism in the discussion of well-being at work
by Sarah Chander on 25th February 2020 The sociologist David Williams has said racism makes us sick and this is also true at work. How can we create workplaces which promote wellbeing for all? How work affects our mental health…