Financial Times
Europe Editor and former Brussels Bureau Chief for the Financial Times
PROFILE
Tony Barber
Guest
FROM Tony Barber
To the Point
The Backlash Against Austerity International May Day rallies are supposed to celebrate the dignity of human labor, but with 26 million Europeans out of work and unemployment at 27 percent in Greece and Spain, today's rallies were protests against the consequences of massive spending cuts and increased taxes. Unemployment is setting records in Eurozone countries, and the focus is shifting from reducing debt to growing troubled economies. Some economists are saying "we told you so," bolstered, believe it or not, by discovery of an Excel spread-sheet error in an influential research paper. What will the "austerity" backlash mean for the "sequester" in this country? Are politicians catching up with new ideas of what works and what doesn't?
To the Point
Clinton Reaches Out to Russia, Iran at NATO Meeting Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today she wants a high-level meeting on Afghanistan by the end of this month, convened by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and including her counterpart from Iran. Today's announcement came during a meeting of NATO in Brussels. Tony Barber is Brussels Bureau Chief for the Financial Times .
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Left, Right & Center
Very legal? Very cool? President Trump says it was very legal and very cool to run his business and campaign simultaneously, but was it?
To the Point
Trump Sees ‘Bipartisanship’ on Criminal Justice Reform After decades, America’s draconian crackdown on crime isn’t working. Even most conservatives agree with liberals that it’s worse than a waste of money. President Trump has used a rare word when it comes to proposed reform: “bipartisanship.” It could happen before the new Congress takes office--but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might be applying the brakes.