Oct 16, 2019   Viewpoints

[Noah Smith] Economics Nobel for three pragmatic poverty-fighters

This year’s economics Nobel prize went to three worthy economists: Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Michael Kremer of Harvard University. The prize, awarded “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty,” shows several important ways that the economics discipline is changing. A popular conception of economists is that they’re the high priests of the free market, downplaying the role of government and givin

Oct 15, 2019   Viewpoints

[Kim Seong-kon] We, too, can inadvertently become terrorists

Today we live in a violent world. Every day, war and terrorism are exterminating human lives somewhere on this planet. In advanced countries, violence is not tolerated, and is strictly prohibited by law. In many underdeveloped countries, however, violence is so rampant and omnipresent that people have no other choice than to live with it. Violence takes many forms. Some forms of violence are visible and obvious, and others are invisible, subtle, or inconspicuous. Experts say there are four

Oct 15, 2019   Viewpoints

[Shuli Ren] Elliott and Blackstone enter hostile territory in Japan

A small $1.5 billion company is attracting the biggest movers in finance in what’s shaping up as the first high-profile foreign hostile takeover in Japan. If successful, it could wake up the sleepy $228 billion market of publicly listed real-estate companies.　The attention is on Unizo Holdings, until recently an obscure developer and hotel operator. The company has a big chunk of its office rental business, which accounts for about 90 percent of operating income, in Tokyo, where the vacanc

Oct 14, 2019   Viewpoints

[Noah Smith] Five unpopular policies the US should adopt

Not every good policy is going to be popular. Sometimes either the public, activists or the commentariat -- or all three -- just get something wrong. This can happen for ideological reasons, or simply because of a lack of information. I’m more optimistic than most pundits, in that I think the public usually gets at least the outlines broadly right. But there are a few issues where the tide of opinion simply seems to be against me. Here are a few:No. 1. The Trans-Pacific PartnershipThe TPP

Oct 13, 2019   Viewpoints

[Bennet Ramberg] Whither nuclear-arms control?

Is nuclear-arms control unraveling? The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty has collapsed, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is teetering, and North Korea has continued to expand its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenal. Worse, it is unclear whether the United States will stick with the New START Treaty when it expires in 2021. That agreement limits (at 3,000) the number of strategic weapons Russia and the US have pointed at each other.Fortunately, history offers some solace. During and afte

Oct 13, 2019   Viewpoints

[Ramesh Ponnuru] Bad legal arguments against impeachment

Once again, Alan Dershowitz, a former Harvard Law School professor, is mounting a defense of US President Donald Trump against the threat of impeachment.In the past, Dershowitz has been willing to get creative in his legal arguments. After Trump said that he would appeal any impeachment attempt to the Supreme Court, Dershowitz claimed that it was “certainly possible” that the court would stop the Senate from holding a trial. Former Justice David Souter had, he explained, once written

Oct 10, 2019   Viewpoints

[Fumihiro Kitayama]

Can we become foreign workers’ country of choice?

Oct 9, 2019   Viewpoints

[Kim Myong-sik] Unnecessary battle to save unworthy guardsman of power

On a tour of Mokpo and islands off the southwestern port last week, I paid a visit to the Kim Dae-jung Nobel Peace Prize Memorial located in Samhakdo islet. Most impressive there was a picture on the wall showing the former president standing side by side with four of his predecessors during a reception in the Blue House. Roh Tae-woo, Choi Kyu-hah, Kim Dae-jung, Chun Doo-hwan and Kim Young-sam were posing comfortably accompanied by their wives. The photograph was taken right after Kim Dae-jung&r