issue 13

In the age of stalled growth, crippling unemploy-ment, near-deflation, and extremely poor recovery prospects, the policy-makers of this world have been enslaved by an idea that fiscal contraction can help the economy expand. The legends of expan-sionary austerity, like the toxicating songs of mytho-

logical sirens, have clouded the judgments of both academics and practitioners. Many of us believed that budget conservatism amidst the greatest reces-sion since the 1930s could actually stimulate aggre-gate demand. Fortunately, it didn‟t take too many years for us to realize that fiscal consolidation not

only doesn‟t stimulate growth, but it hinders an economy‟s chances of re-bounding out of the slump, putting an unnecessary ob-stacle on taxpayers to sur-

vive the cuts on the social welfare programs. It all started with the distin-guished research paper by Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna, which suggested that austerity can be ex-

pansionary. The paper was controversial the day after it was published, is put un-der question yet again. There really has been quite an astonishing obsession among academic and pol-icy economists that a fiscal

contraction could lead us out of this recession. Reces-sion is the key word here. Again, the basic idea was that austerity would..

PAGE 2

The Clouds of Austerity

HUNGARY

NEWS

February 15, 2012, Year 2, Issue 13

the CEU Weekly

An independent publication by CEU students and alumni

Hungarians protests against ACTA

Hungarian activists joined the outrage that was evoked

by 21 members of the Euro-pean Union who signed A C T A - t h e A n t i -Counterfeiting Trade Agree-ment. A crowd of around a thousand people gathered in Budapest this Saturday

afternoon, an amount that is definitely bigger than that of previous protests concern-ing piracy in Hungary, but still a lot less than in the case of similar protests in Poland. In Krakow, tens of thou-sands..

PAGE 5

MALEV goes bankrupt Page 6

THE WEEKLY SPAM REVIEW

SCIENCE FICTION

and Ph i l o sophy

Reading Group BLANK PAGES So-

ciety reading

8th ANNUAL NGO

fair at CEU

ASTHRAYS NEEDED

POLEMO Pages 3 and 4

Check out our cartoon in page 6!

Hungarians protests against ACTA

Page 5

“Torkos Csutortok”, or Thursday for starving

students Page 6

CEU

Community

Hungarian Expression of the week

Phrase: Szeretlek Magyarország!

Pronunciation: Seretlek maguiarorság?

Translation: I love you Hungary !

Student Tip # 23

23. Do not be such a lazy guy/girl, and go

take a look to frozen Balaton. Do not forget

to bring warm clothes, some palinka and

your camera. The experience will be cold but

unique and memorable.

Picture by Andrei Stavila

calm down the markets by raising institutional credibility, bring down the interest rates, and eventually act as a stimulus to investment and thus growth overall. A small

nuance, however, is that this could have never worked in principle or in practice when the economy is already in a deep recession. In normal times, stabilizing the budget is nothing but logical and in-

deed the right thing to do. But in these extraordinary circumstances, further down-ward pressure on growth is a dead-end game which, unfor-tunately, policy-makers par-ticularly in select European countries decided to play.

Much to the general public's frustration and unnecessary

suffering.

So, what is the state of af-fairs today? We have been seeing a gradual decline in the unemployment rate in the

US, all the while the govern-ment stimulus to revive the economy has remained ac-tive. Consumer debt has de-clined, suggesting that house-holds are gradually begin-ning to offload debts off their shoulders and start to

spend the economy out of a slump. As it turns out (shockingly) - contractionary policy will contract the al-ready recessing economy,

and expansionary policy will literally "expand" the aggre-gated output, with a time lag,

naturally.

This is all in perfect parallel with what standard macro-

economic theory would pre-dict: a collapse in aggregate demand met with aggressive (not aggressive enough, in my opinion) fiscal and monetary responses which alleviate the impact of a massive house-

hold deleveraging shock and a collapse of trust in the fi-nancial system, with the lag of the policy impact being especially long because of the severity and magnitude

of this particular crisis.

Now, as the stimuli have gone

into effect and consumers fin-ish to repay the outstanding debt obligations, the econ-omy is on a slow, but never-theless steady rise as sup-ported by falling unemploy-ment. Consider the evidence

below for the graphs of US unemployment, public debt,

and household debt.

Meanwhile in Europe, while the disillusioned policy-makers in Brussels are sticking to the old agenda of expan-

sionary austerity... oh, wait:

Adherence to fiscal discipline is a necessary condition for growth,” Mario Monti told an

audience at the London Stock Exchange on January 18th. “It is not however a sufficient condition.” His message to Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy is that the EU must move from

reliance only on austerity to-wards some growth -

stimulating measures.

Mario Monti, newly estab-lished Prime Minister of Italy, ex-president of Bocconi Uni-versity, the school which

granted me my Bachelor in International economics, is suggesting that although fis-cal responsibility is very im-portant, austerity by itself is not at all sufficient to recov-ery or growth; especially in our current conditions. This is

something we, and me, con-cluded months if not years

ago.

The European austerity pro-ject is obviously failing. The continent is facing a real threat of a decade of stag-

nation, low growth, weak do-mestic demand, poor innova-tion and technology perspec-tives, and yes - even poten-tially dangerous political con-solidations, as already wit-nessed in the struggling Hun-

gary.

Europe needs growth. The US has demonstrated that even with an inadequately pack-

aged fiscal stimulus and an above-average monetary response, the country man-aged to escape a double-digit unemployment figure, unlike the Euro Area for which

the number currently stands at the record-breaking

10.3%.

Facts are on the table. But until the poison of expansion-ary austerity fades away,

suffering will continue.

Rustam Jamilov

Junior Economist at the Cen-tral Bank of the Republic of

Azerbaijan

Lecturer at Azerbaijan State

Economic University

Alumnus of CEU Business

School

The Clouds of Austerity

the CEU Weekly


OPED

The contents, mistakes, virtues, shortcomings and imperti-

nences in the CEU Weekly, an independent publication by CEU students and alumni, are the sole responsibility of the editors and the contributors. Editors: Rodrigo Avila B. (Editor in Chief ) Jonathan Day (Managing Editor) Editorial Council: Natalia Peral, Yusuf Yüksekdağ, Lucas Gilardone, Donald Mogeni, Moritz Poesch, Tamas Gyorgy and Erik Kotlarik

the CEU Weekly


COMMUNITY

Your “corner”

Have any comments, ideas, corrections? Would you like to advertise

a project? Write us at

[email protected] and get yourself published!

One of the newest reading groups at CEU sets out to explore the intersec-tion of science fiction and philosophy. For a long time, science fiction has served as a way to critically confront social issues, engage questions of hu-man nature, and raise other broadly philosophical questions. Many of the current practitioners prefer the term “speculative fiction” as a way to em-phasize this aspect of the genre. The Science Fiction and Philosophy Reading Group meets every Monday (7PM in Zrinyi 14, room 411) to discuss one or two short stories from the science fiction genre, exploring and responding to the ideas found in the story. We use short stories since we know that nobody at CEU has time for novels. Furthermore, we select stories that are literary and contemporary, showcasing some of the best of what science fiction currently has to offer. The group is open to anybody who is interested; we are rather evenly split between readers who are new to the genre and veteran SF readers. SF offers a broad range of material, so we are able to select stories based on the themes and subjects of interest to our members. Past readings have included Ted Kosmatka‟s “Divining Light” featuring an alcoholic quantum physicist wrestling with free will and determinism, Greg Egan‟s “Reasons to Be Cheerful” in which a cure for depression also bestows the ability to con-trol one‟s emotions and preferences, and Benjamin Rosenbaum‟s incredibly concise utopia, “Ylla‟s Choice.” If you are interested in attending and wish to receive the readings (or want to request a particular topic) you can con-tact Brent Franklin - [email protected]

The Weekly Spam Review

Science Fiction and Philosophy Reading Group

at CEU

BLANK PAGES SOCIETY is a literary group at CEU formed in 2010. Since then, this delicious group has not only published a nice piece with literary crea-tions of faculty, staff and students, but it has also provide lots of joy to its members and friends. One

of the common activities of the BPS is to gather in a nice room (usually the old trendy room at Nador 13), open some bottles of wine, and listen to diffe-rent sorts of literary creations (and translations) in different languages, including but not limited to Hungarian, French, English, German and Spanish. This is probably one of the most sensual events that the CEU community provides for itself. It does not

matter if you want to share your love or dissapoint-ment, if you have a trapped poet within yourself or if you just want to impress somebody: Blank Pa-ges is a place where you can let your other “you” to perform and enjoy. Furthermore, this group re-flects the beauty and diversity of CEU: peope from all the continents, backgrounds and mental frame-

works gather here: black, yellow, white, pink and blue: all colors fit within BPS. The same applies for sexual orientations: the cutest heterosexual, lesbian and gay individuals, couples and threesomes gat-her at once.. all for the sake of sharing, expressing, hearing and been heard. In a nutshell, BPS nights are a place where you want to be.. and you are lucky because the next one is on February 16, at

18.30 hours! So see you there!

The CEU Weekly is

looking for

-Social Media Manager

BLANK PAGES SOCIETY: delicious night

to come.. and you should join

BOBBY DELIGHTS THE AUDIENCE WITH SOME

NICE READING IN A BPS SESSION

Many members of the CEU community (both smokers and non-

smokers) could agree that the ban on smoking in the entrances of

CEU has been a good decision. There is no doubt that for many of

us, having to go through a cloud of smoke when entering or leav-

ing the campus was not certainly a nice experience. In this sense,

expressions of support and relief have been already made public.

Now, according to the news legislation, smoking is forbidden

within a 5 meters distance of the schools‟ entries. So far everything

seems to be ok, and the policy was applauded. Nonetheless, as

part of enforcing the policy, all the entrances‟ ashtrays were taken

away (true, with the exception of those located in the courtyard of

Nador 15, a place hardly accessible for students enjoying ten

minute break. The outcome has been that now, students facculty

and staff move five meters away from the entrance and then light

their cigarettes. The bad things is that given the complete lack of

ashtrays, the street has become the new big collective ashtray: this

look bad and it is not correct. Ideally, each smoking member

should walk until find the closest trash can. Reality, unfortunately, is

not this way, and therefore, our dear Nador utca is a major re-

cipient of this discussing waste. Maybe, it would be worth it to

give it a second thought and re installed some of the nice and tall

CEU ashtrays which hopefully will not get stolen. Of course, these

“cigarettes deposits” should be located 5 meters or more away

from the entrances.. Just a policy suggestion.

the the CEU Weekly


CEU COMMUNITY

Banning smoking in the entrances is good, but we still need ashtrays

8th Annual CEU NGO Fair at CEU (Date/Time: Wednesday, February 22rd, 11 am - 2 pm) Next Wednesday, NGO Fair will take place at CEU in the Octagon and Laptop area. In this fair, which is organized by HRSI, non-governmental organizations operating

in Budapest will have a chance to present their work and any internship/work opportunities they offer to the stu-dents. Last year NGOs such as European Roma Rights Center, UNHCR, Terre des Hommes, Mental Disability and Advocacy Center, Public Interest Law Institute and Verzio participated in the fair. Also, the same day between

3pm and 4pm, in TIGY room, the NGO representatives will discuss common practices in the NGO recruitment. Don‟t miss such an opportunity, if you consider a career in NGOs or if you want to extend your stay in Budapest!

POLEMO

Since fall 2010, Reading Group in Political, Moral and Legal Theory (POLEMO) (organized by Prof. Andres Moles and Prof. Zoltan Miklosi) aimed to bring together interested students and faculty from the Departments of Philosophy, Legal Studies and Political Science in order

to discuss current research and recent publications in the-se fields. As of November, 2011, POLEMO is a formal research group of CEU. As a research group, apart from reading group meetings, now POLEMO aims to organize lectures and seminars. Today, Jonathan Quong‟s article on Left-Libertarianism will be discussed in the reading group (15.30 – 17.10, FT 708). Details can be found in the web-site http://polemo.ceu.hu/

the the CEU Weekly


HUNGARY NEWS

After sixty-six years of operation,

Hungary‟s national airline Malév

went bankrupt. At six a.m. on Febru-

ary 3rd, the carrier ceased all op-

erations, cancelling all flights. As the

managing director of the company,

Lóránt Limburg explained: the part-

ners of the company had

lost their trust in Malév,

and wanted a 30 million

Euro payment for their

services in advance – a

sum that was beyond the

capabilities of the com-

pany. The state-owned

airline had been in debt

for a long time, and last

month the European Union

ordered Malev to repay

nearly $400 million in

state subsidies received

between 2007 and 2010, that were

considered to be illegal.

Malév carried 3 million passengers

yearly, on 23 thousand flights reach-

ing 45 cities directly. Around 7,200

passengers were immediately af-

fected by the closing down of Malév,

having tickets for flights on Friday.

The situation is worse for the 2, 600

employees of the company, who are

all depending on the bankrupt com-

pany. Malév was not the only airline

to go collapse: the very same week,

Spain's fourth-largest airline Spanair

reached the same faith, leaving more

than 20, 000 passengers stranded

across Europe and Africa.

protested on the day ACTA was revealed. The Hungarian

demonstration was organized by two groups. Kalózpárt

(Pirate party), which is a Hungarian cell of the international

hacker entity Anonymous, and Occupy Budapest. In addition

to the real life protests, on line campaigns are also being

organized, and a cyber attack took down the webpage of

the office that had first declared Hungary signing ACTA. The

widespread civil resistance to ACTA is in some cases indeed

effective, as it can be seen from the example of six EU mem-

ber states who did not sign the agreement yet, mostly as a

react ion to the pressure from the cit izens.

According to the protesters, the main problem with ACTA is

that it uses a very general terminology, one that includes

definitions so broad that it can be used against a huge por-

tion of everyday Internet usage. It does not lay down an ex-

act definition for „fair use‟, which would set barriers for

abusing copyrights by defining the cases where copying and

distributing content that is otherwise protected by copyright

laws is legitimate in the name of freedom of information.

Hungarians in Budapest protests against ACTA, cont.

MALEV goes bankrupt

“Torkos Csutortok” or, literally, “gluttonous

Thursday”, has now become a great tra-

dition in Hungary. Once a year, there is a

Thursday in February in which many

(cause not all) of the Restaurants in Buda-

pest will offer clients a very appealing

fifty percent discount. Considering the cur-

rent exchange rates and the fact that

many students live on the generous still

limited cash amount provided by CEU fel-

lowships and other scholarships, this may

be your change to try that restaurant you

had targeted some time go but never

dared to try.

True, it will be a crowded day in many of

these restaurants, but it can still be worth

it to give it a shot. So, check out the list of

those restaurants offering this nice dis-

count (google it.. but be aware it may be

only in Hungarian.. though once again, we

have google translator right?) and go try

it with the company of your preference.

And yes, hurry up because it is only this

Thursday (meaning February 16).

“Torkos Csutortok”, or Thursday for starving students

Picture by Andrei Stavila

he Weethe CEU Weekly


CARTOON

the CEU Weekly


POETRY

Time For Changes

Smiles help people to disguise

And tears are backened for devise

But they feel like out of blood

They feel hollow, they just flaunt

They breath air, but don’t feel

That air gives them kind of leal

It gives them change they always need

Just step forward and make a leap.

So when you hear a sudden knock

A sudden bang on door of lot

Close your eyes and say it is

The change has come , I take it real.

It would be challenge, it would be hard

At least you think so, believe it's not.

It may seem to you a fraud

All your friends insist it's pud

But you see it as a bud

Bud for new life, for new start

And you get it, time has come

No pretending, no more blag.

No more bonds with up-glam people

Cynic bosses, mocking chiefoes

Ties with folks in high position

Full of crap and filled with fiction.

It's enough, it's time for changes

Never think it would be late

To get rid of hatred faces

All this time you had to stand.

Everything should have its reason

Change should have its own too

And sometimes you hear half-ear

Phrase that people say : «JUST DO»

And noone has slight idea

When this « JUST» shoulb be performed

Let's believe that JUST is here

JUST is now and JUST is YOU.

Hovsep Patvakanyan ( Patvakans HP)

ARMENIA

A silect mission in room 404

he Weethe CEU Weekly

About the CEU Weekly

This is a student-alumni initiative that seeks to provide CEU with a regularly issued newspaper. The CEU

Weekly is a vehicle of expression for the diversity of perspectives and viewpoints that integrate CEU’s open

society: free and respectful public debate is our aim. We offer a place in which current events and student

reflections can be voiced. Plurality, respect and freedom of speech are our guiding principles.

This is a paper for the CEU community, by the CEU community; submissions for publication are not only

welcomed, but encouraged. If you have something you would like published in the CEU Weekly, please visit

our website for submission details.

Write us at [email protected]


ALUMNI PERSPECTIVE

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@TheCEUWeekly

The door was slightly ajar, as if inviting me to enter the room but not without some effort on my

side. In fact, it has been quite tricky to reach room 404: the hotel is out of the beaten track, located in a deser-ted narrow street overlooking a fenced park. Even the

passageway to the stairs begins in an unexpected cor-ner. You can‟t reach here without help, unless you know exactly where you go to. I landed here almost by chan-

ce, all the more since the old lady at the front desk was more interested in her knitting than in interpreting the directions I got. I left the staircase and walked down the corridor until I found the number and the door barely

open as an intriguing promise. I pushed it slowly and a scent of old carpets and deodorant war...med my steps

inside.

They were waiting for me in the lukewarm glow of the afternoon, this old, solemn man looking dis-

tant, and this young beautiful woman with a faint smile. The man stood up: I hope you could find us easily, my dear, can we offer you some drink? Some Traubisoda,

maybe, or perhaps you‟d rather have some palinka? It‟s

been cold outside.

He left his armchair by the window and moved towards a small fridge next to the closet, he opened it and grabbed a green plastic bottle. He took a small bottle of palinka from his chest pocket and put

both in a small round table, pointing at a chair for me to sit down. You may know my daughter Lila, I‟m sure. She has acted in some films, she‟s an actress. As I glan-

ced, she looked bored and somewhat unconcerned. We want you to write a story for us, he said, the story of our relatives that went to exile to your country. We sent you

some material which, I hope, you had a chance of rea-

ding through.

So that was it: they wanted me to write a novel, to unearth the endeavor of a family for the sake

of preserving its memory. And also because I want to shoot a movie, the woman interrupted my thoughts as if

she was reading them.

Why meeting in a hotel? I wondered. She replied something about the inconvenience of other peo-

ple knowing of our meeting. I couldn‟t follow her com-plete argument because I found myself looking at her lips as she talked with such a strange accent. Her ans-wer was brief but I couldn‟t take my eyes from her

mouth right away, there was another calling, a more profound voice whispering, somehow telling me that I

had arrived at home.

As the afternoon turned to evening I liste-ned to them, paid another look at their age old photos,

and read some more documents. I could recognize many of the places they mentioned: the narrative of their fa-mily plight was in a distant manner a description of my

own fate. So there I was, in room 404 of an unknown hotel, ready to sit and write about these people, which

is a way of writing as well about me.

The sun was gone, and I took a paper and

began scribbling these lines that you have just read.

Lucas Gilardone

ARGENTINA

LEGS SJD Alumnus

issue 13

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