Opponents of drugs reform often trot out the line that the UK gave up fighting the war on drugs some … Continue reading “Drugs: The war we choose to fight”

About a year ago, I wrote that although the focus (at the time) was on Portugal, the viability of the … Continue reading “Portugal has made progress but needs bigger spending cuts and radical structural reforms”

The severity of the current Portuguese crisis results from a mixture of internal and external factors. After an initial boost … Continue reading “Portugal, Spain and the future of the euro”

The eurozone came with fine aspirations: according to article 127 in the consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning … Continue reading “Sovereign debt restructuring and the euro crisis”

As top Portuguese banks give public signals that they will stop buying government debt, pressure is mounting for an immediate … Continue reading “Can Portugal avoid a bailout?”

The drug policy of the UK has, for years, taken the line of being ‘hard on drugs’, aiming to stamp … Continue reading “Can Britain learn from Portugal’s liberalised drug laws?”

The so-called Keynesian consensus that seemed to emerge following Obama’s stimulus package, was a short-lived one. Governments, mainly in the … Continue reading “Portugal to be first to default”

After years of continuous growth in public spending and public debt, the Portuguese economy finds itself in a bleak situation … Continue reading “The crisis: a view from Portugal”

After Greece and Ireland, it seems increasingly likely that Portugal may become the third euro-area country to be bailed out … Continue reading “Euro crisis: the prognosis for Portugal is dire”