Ideology of Power

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces a no-confidence vote today. The forex market once again slips into a short lull, coming off of anxiety over Italy's political crisis; but all signs suggest Rajoy nears the end of his reign, as the Basque Nationalist Party which holds the crucial five votes has said that it will support the motion tabled by the Socialist Party - which may propel Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez into office. It seems Rajoy had his chance to resign as PM, but an official from Rajoy's People's Party has insisted no such thing will happen. Difficulties for the EU (and by extension its common currency the Euro) looks to be extended and while the currency seems like it might be on the rebound, this episode might augur further weakness.

Despite the bluster of the Republican presidential nominee, it seems quite unlikely that recent poll results on the popularity and support of his campaign can universally be discounted. The recent ABC/Washington Post Poll brought matters to a head, showing an immense 12% lead for Hillary over Trump. Of course, poll results vary (probably a result of both sample bias or political maneuver, but in what proportion is anyone's guess), yet there seems to be a consensus no matter which poll one looks at: Clinton is firmly in the lead. Of course, with about a hundred days left till the start of the primaries, there is hardly any certainty about the results; the volatility of recent events attests to that fact. From the Orlando shooting to Brexit, to the resulting fallout in the financial markets where more than $2 trillion in equities was wiped out, the last few weeks has been spectacularly chaotic. Politics is a vast public undertaking, relying on mass communication to  galvanize  ...

Britain’s commitment to leaving the European Union (EU) was concretized today, legitimized by the democratic process. Having put the decision of whether to Leave or Remain to a referendum, the voting of which was held yesterday on the 23 rd of June, British Prime Minister David Cameron inadvertently opened the path to a British ‘secession’ from the EU; now the shockwaves of that decision are rocking the economies the world over, with Cameron announcing his resignation. A few minutes after the US markets opened, the DOW dropped 500 points, although the descent was arrested. The DOW Futures went down 700 points, and bank stocks have almost universally been adversely affected. There is no point in disputing the seriousness or the monumental nature of the ‘Brexit’. All the fears that accompanied the ‘Grexit’ scare attend to the current crisis as well, and perhaps even more, given Britain’s ostensibly more pivotal role on the international stage, at least in relation to Greece. There are fe...