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Category: VOLUME I, No. 1

HUNGARY: THE DISADVANTAGES OF GEOGRAPHY

Hungarians didn’t settle in wartime America “for the climate”, as Ferenc Molnár famously reminded other exiles in the Plaza Hotel, New York, in 1944. But is climate the reason why today’s Hungarians live where they do? Wars, invasions, rebellions, occupations, and (above all perhaps) peace treaties have moved the country

THE VANISHING TWENTY YEARS

HISTORICAL TIME, POLITICAL TIME History does not change every day. European history used to be divided into “ages” and “centuries”, but also into “reigns” and “regimes” – meaning the periods of individual historically important monarchs or political leaders. With the “present day” acceleration of history, standards of change have shrunk.

THE CASE OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT WITH INTERNATIONAL FINANCE

Mark Weisbrot, a fervent critique of the IMF, the gendarme of the financial world, stood behind Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in this conflict with the Fund and the European Union (EU), lenders to the Hungarian government (“To Viktor go the spoils: how Hungary blazes a trail in Europe” (Guardian, 9

HUNGARY: THE REVIVAL OF THE PANNON PUMA

Hungary was a front runner in transition until the early 2000s thanks to the fact that the country had one of the highest per capita foreign investment levels in the region, a stable fiscal situation, and a rapid growth rate. This, however, quickly evaporated and the 2008 global financial crisis

NOTES FROM THE RED PLANET

To tell the truth, I’ve never much liked Ajka. It was one of those small industrial towns I passed through on my way from the almost Tuscan beauty of the hilly northern shore of Lake Balaton, to visit my friends in Gyor, a city which shines like an amethyst on

BEHIND GOD’S BACK

NT: Why have previous Hungarian governments failed to deal with the Roma situation in Hungary and what can your government do differently? ZB: We have data on government activities towards the Gypsies – as they have been traditionally called in Hungary – since the time of the Austro-Hungarian queen, Maria Teresa,

SIXTY SUGGESTIONS IN THE INTEREST OF TRUE ROMA INTEGRATION

I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 1. Deep poverty should not be considered as a solely Roma problem. Of the nearly three quarter million people living in deep poverty in Hungary, only 250–300 thousand are of Roma descent. Looked at another way, of the estimated 700–800 thousand Roma, only an estimated 250–300 thousand

POPULISM AND UNMASKING

I read in the New York Times of 8th September 2010 that President Obama opposes any extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy “adding a populist twist” to an election season economic package. I became alerted to the use of the term “populism” about a year ago when an old

LEGACY OF THE REVOLUTION – THE HUNGARIAN EXPERIENCE

The drive for historic change and development in Europe had set in motion in these countries forces of revolutionary spirit that pressed for freedom and human dignity, for national independence, and for such political, material and cultural conditions which would allow a bearable quality of life for all citizens and

ONE DAY

According to Marcel Proust, – perhaps this is the most exciting message of his work – there are extraordinary, magical moments of wonder in every lifetime, which interrupt the never-ending string of grey and painful seconds, and thereby give meaning to life. He was of course referring to private life