Germany is a reluctant supporter of the EU funds which are being used in the ‘bailout' of Ireland, and it insists on strict ‘austerity' conditions, concerned about risk and moral hazard.However, through its central bank, Germany is lending €325bn (December 2010) to other central banks in...

In 1825, France conditioned its grant of recognition to the new nation of Haiti on the payment of 150 million francs plus trade benefits. The payments were, at least in part, compensation for the losses that French plantation owners suffered, a key part of which was the loss of enslaved...