English

One country that symbolised the crisis of the last 10 years was Greece. Its insolvency embarked the country on a long regime of bail-outs and austerity. This August, Greece officially emerged from the crisis, with the OECD forecasting GDP growth again. So, did the austerity work? The former Greek finance minister and co-founder of the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM) remains unconvinced.

Brian Eno correctly said that children play to discover how the world works and, once they grow up, art is the adult way of continuing to… play. But, then, he incorrectly surmised that art is not dangerous. True, in the good society art would not be dangerous. But, in our terrible societies the madmen in authority are terrified of good art. “When I hear the word culture I reach for my revolver”, opined Herman Goering. And how right he was! “The purpose of painting is not to decorate.

A culture war is underway in Europe – not between the ‘anywheres’ and the ‘nowheres’, but between those who use culture to divide – by class, by race, by nation – and those who use it to connect and include. This war is not based in Parliament – but on the street, in our homes, and across the web. If these conflicts present real dangers, they also present opportunities to reach people that have disconnected from traditional forms of politics – and to hear their voices in response.

This is the English language (original) interview with Arcangelo Rociola, published on the AGI site in Italian, on the Italian government’s clash with Brussels over its budget deficit, the plans for a flat tax (that is not flat) and a universal income (that will never be universal), the 5S Movement’s claim to the mantle of the Italian Left, and my pronouncement that Mr Salvini has brought a Fascist Moment into Italy and into Europe.

Yanis Varoufakis and Conservative MP Ken Clarke join Andrew Neil, along with Camilla Tominey from the Telegraph and Labour’s Rupa Huq. They discuss whether Labour is ready to govern, Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit meeting with the EU’s Michel Barnier and the Salisbury poisoning suspect reported to be a Russian military officer.

Deregulation. Infinite growth. Self-correcting markets. All are hallmarks of neoliberal thinking. But they’re more than just assumptions about the economy. They undergird much of the most influential thinking about governance right now, and dominate political and economic thinking everywhere. The results, according to some, have been disastrous. Investigative journalist Bruce Livesey asks four experts about the rise and rule of neoliberal thought, and what it may mean for societies around the world.

ATHENS – As deadlines approach and red lines are redrawn in the United Kingdom’s impending withdrawal from the European Union, it is imperative for the people of Britain to regain democratic control over a process that is opaque and ludicrously irrational. The question is: How?