Oct
24
Travel light – on packing and sleeping
October 24, 2011 | 1 Comment
I came across three useful travel tips that I should I should share. (And note to self.) The funniest, and maybe most useful, is from last weekend’s Financial Times. Always wondered how to max your hand luggage? – Here is the solutionn – the Dutch version of ‘wearable luggage’. This is a coat into which [...]
Sep
21
Singapore’s lack of cycling facilities
September 21, 2011 | 3 Comments
Spiegel Online is featuring this short article about a new global index on the quality of cycling in global cities. The index was prepared by a Danish blogger and cycling expert who runs the blog Copenhagenize.eu. No surprise, Amsterdam and Copenhagen top the ranking of 20 cities. Sadly though only one Asian city makes it [...]
Aug
16
How Eurobonds are the way forward
August 16, 2011 | 14 Comments
Market pressures on ailing Euro-zone countries persist and the Merkels and Sarkozys struggle to find an answer. The latest hype gaining ground is the idea of Eurobonds. These would be jointly issued bonds by all Euro-zone (or even EU) governments to finance government debt by national (or sub-national) governments. Ironically, I remember several interesting discussions [...]
May
27
Mladic’ arrest is no reason to celebrate
May 27, 2011 | 2 Comments
Yesterday was a very good day. One of the most disgusting criminals of the last decades has been arrested and should be brought to justice soon. Ratko Mladic was a key operator in the ‘Balkan wars’ of the 1990s – Europe’s darkest moment after Nazi Germany. The arrest of Mladic should remind us of three [...]
Mar
8
Holding governments accountable
March 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment
The Open Budget Index (OBI) for the year 2010 assessed 94 countries from around the world in terms of their budget openness and accountability. The drive was coordinated by the International Budget Partnership, a Washington DC based independent think-tank. Of the 94 countries reviewed, only 24 yielded satisfactory results when it came to maintaining a [...]
Dec
22
Poor results of budget transparency around the world
December 22, 2010 | 1 Comment
Over the last year I have been working on one of the most interesting global transparency projects – the Open Budget Index. A few weeks back the final results have finally been published after our lengthy review process. Unfortunately, these results shed a disappointing light on government approaches around the globe: 74 of our 94 [...]
Nov
29
Never forget to pay your bills in Singapore
November 29, 2010 | 1 Comment
Some say Singaporeans are greedy, some say they are bureaucratic and some that they are uber-honest. I think this is all crap stereotyping (as if the Germans would be orderly… or the Indians talkative…). But here is a warning from the Singapore university library of what happens if you do not settle your fines (no [...]
Oct
27
Blogs and news on the EU budget
October 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment
The budget review has sparked some fresh and good debate on the future of the EU’s budget. A couple of blogs have been opened recently to contribute to this debate and they are probably the best place to gather information over what is going on. Here comes an overview: LowCarbonBudget.eu by the UK’s Green Alliance. [...]
Oct
27
Books and articles on EU budget debate
October 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment
As a follow-up to my previous post on standard books on the EU budget, here comes an overview of some literature since the mid-19990s on the EU budget. Advisory Council on International Affairs (2007): The finances of the European Union. The AVI works on request of the Dutch parliament/government on international affairs. This report can [...]
Oct
26
EU studies conferences 2011
October 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Here comes an overview of the relevant EU studies academic conferences in 2011 (ordered by deadline). As always, please comment or inform me if relevant conferences are missing. Please also note that there is an EU conference in Taiwan for Asian scholars in February. European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) 12-17 April 2011 St. Gallen, [...]