Z Nightly Commentaries
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Recent Z Nightly Commentaries
Kolko: The Predicted Financial Storm Has Arrived
Aug 29, 2007
Contradictions now wrack the world's financial system, and a growing consensus exists between those who endorse it and those who argue the status quo is both crisis-prone as well as immoral. If we are to believe the institutions and personalities who hav
Kagarlitsky: Bronze soldier takes a shot
May 28, 2007
I learned about the riots in Tallinn during a philosophy conference in the south Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Participants were deep into Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" when a young man showed an SMS message on events in Estonia. During the coffee-br
Kagarlitsky: Bronze soldier takes a shot
May 23, 2007
I learned about the riots in Tallinn during a philosophy conference in the south Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Participants were deep into Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" when a young man showed an SMS message on events in Estonia. During the coffee-break we didn't miss the chance to share first impressions from the news. "This is practice, while our fiefdom is theory", was the disdainful reaction.
Kagarlitsky: March 2007 vs. March 1917. Historical parallels
Mar 23, 2007
On March 3, Russia's liberal and leftist groups held the Dissenters' March in St. Petersburg. The rally seems to be the first successful social event of the liberal opposition so far. It gathered over 3000 people; but more importantly it revealed that the
Kagarlitsky: A Policy Paved With Good Intentions
Feb 25, 2007
At least one good thing has come out of the absurdly warm weather so far this winter. Even though the high temperatures cannot [Definitely] be attributed to global warming, politicians and many in the business community are paying more attention to this i
Kagarlitsky: MOSCOW AFTER THE FAT COWS HAVE ALREADY BEEN EATEN
Jan 21, 2007
While the Russians enjoyed themselves during the New Year and Christmas holidays, the world economy was developing in its own quite unexpected way. The oil prices dropped and the Moscow housing market stabilized.
Kagarlitsky: A murder for export
Dec 13, 2006
After the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya I predicted that there would be a following up to this story. Unfortunately, I was right. Alexander Litvinenko's suspected poisoning has become a headliner this week, but rather in Britain than in Russia.
Kagarlitsky: Russia and WTO: This Is Going to Hurt
Dec 04, 2006
The last time Russia was knocking on the door of the World Trade Organization was at the very beginning of the decade. Most people then had only a hazy idea about what the WTO was, so there was no public alarm. Major corporations, however, were strongly o
Kagarlitsky: The Ukrainian frontier guard syndrome
Nov 14, 2006
There is one good joke I want to tell you. Two Ukrainian frontier guards are keeping awake at the observation post.
Kagarlitsky: Europe's New Second-Tier
Oct 26, 2006
On Sept. 26, the European Commission announced that Bulgaria and Romania would join the European Union even earlier than previously planned. The two former Soviet satellites will join the EU on Jan. 1, 2007, instead of 2008.
Kagarlitsky: Racial Violence and Unity
Oct 10, 2006
The recent ethnic violence in the Karelian town of Kondopoga started with an everyday fight and clashes between criminal gangs, but has ended with serious politicking and propagandizing.
Kagarlitsky: The Rebirth of the Unions
Sep 22, 2006
Few people in the Soviet era understood the need for trade unions. Sure, the unions collected membership fees and distributed free trips to sanatoriums among the workers, but apart from that no one could clearly explain what function they played. The earl
Klein: Pay To Be Saved: A Future of Disaster Apartheid
Aug 29, 2006
The Red Cross has just announced a new disaster-response partnership with Wal-Mart. When the next hurricane hits, it will be a co-production of Big Aid and Big Box.
Kagarlitsky: A St Petersburg Tale
Aug 17, 2006
We travelled to the counter-summit. The first stage was a conference on the results of fifteen years of neoliberal reforms. After this came the Russian Social Forum, to which the authorities prudently allocated the Kirov Stadium - remote from the summit o
Kagarlitsky: Ambition Trumping Vision
Jul 06, 2006
Ukraine's political leaders still haven't managed to form a coalition government, although they've explored a variety of combinations. President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc and the Socialists -- onc
Kagarlitsky: Bottling a Troubled History
Jul 02, 2006
Until very recently, I naively thought that Russia's ban on Moldovan and Georgian wines was caused by political conflicts with those countries. How wrong I was! Now it is abundantly clear that Russian authorities just don't like wine.
Kagarlitsky: It's Not About Oil
May 09, 2006
The oil prices have once again gone up, exceeding the $70 per barrel margin. In the earlier years analysts would have talked about "another psychologically important barrier". Now this is no longer the case, as price increase is of no surprise for anyone.
Kolhatkar: LAÕs New Immigrant Movement
May 05, 2006
Los Angeles is being seen as the epicenter of the new immigrant movement,
Kagarlitsky: The Moment of Truth in Ukarainian History
Apr 02, 2006
The electoral campaign in Ukraine has come to its homestretch. To predict the results of the election in a foreign country is a mug's game, especially if this foreign country is the Ukraine with its unstable political situation, its struggles between nume
Sep 16, 2007
Western leftist economists are known for having predicted eight crises out of five that erupted. Well, critically thinking people like to predict different crashes, collapses and depressions. The existing system turns out to be irrational so often and in