Activity

which are then immediately belied by events a few weeks later

The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force in late 2009, was intended to make EU governance more transparent and democratic, notably by replacing unanimous decision making in the European Council with a system of “qualified” majority voting for most policy areas, and also opening many ministerial council meetings to the public

In the symbolic realm, moreover, Jobs and Gates embody the figure of the deserving rich, a soothing idea in times like these. We’ve come close to concluding that their fortunes ($8 billion for Jobs, $50 billion for Gates, according to the Forbes magazine rankings) are exactly what they ought to be …