[Kim Seong-Kon] What we should do in post-coronavirus era

It may be too early to predict what will happen in the post-coronavirus world. Yet already one hears foretold that when the crisis is over, the world will not be the same. For example, globalization will surely decline and nationalism will rise instead because many people believe globalization is responsible for the spread of the pandemic. Undeniably, easy international travel and borderless mobility contributed to the spread of the disease. However, the reverse of globalization will not be ea

April 8, 2020

[Digital Simplicity] Mask up for yourself and others

When I got out of my apartment and took the elevator down to the first floor, I happened to stand with a neighbor who did not wear a face mask. I got a little nervous about his apparent violation of basic guidelines to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, but tried not to express such a feeling. But the thought of getting infected in an enclosed space made me feel uneasy during the brief elevator ride. Is this too much? Perhaps I overreacted a bit. But a number of people in South K

April 3, 2020

[Trudy Rubin] Data sans politics can curb virus

Back in the 1950s, Sgt. Joe Friday of the TV show “Dragnet” famously advised witnesses: “Just the facts, ma’am.” That phrase became a national slogan, long before the very concept of “facts” was clouded by social media. As the number of coronavirus cases soars, with Americans anxious to know when stay-at-home orders will end, we desperately need the facts, based on reliable data. Instead, we are deluged with COVID-19 misinformation from the White House

April 2, 2020

[Noah Smith] Coronavirus exposes US as civilization in decline

Crises such as wars, depressions, natural disasters and pandemics can reveal differences in how effectively a society organizes itself. In the 1600s and 1700s, for example, Britain’s more advanced tax system allowed it to outspend Spain and France, while Prussia’s efficient army let it overcome larger opponents such as Austria. In the American Civil War, the Union’s industrial prowess allowed it to outlast and overwhelm the agrarian Confederacy. Pandemics aren’t quite th

April 1, 2020

[Eli Lake] Protecting civil rights in virus fight

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, some democracies around the world have used technology to avoid having to impose draconian mass quarantines that were common earlier this year in China. That’s reassuring -- and it’s also worrying, because the very strategies that can help fight a plague can also be abused once it’s over. Consider Taiwan, where an “electronic fence” allows local police to make regular phone calls to everyone who is home under quaranti

April 1, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Living as an Asian in West in uncomfortable times

Undoubtedly, these are uncomfortable times for all Asians living in the West. For the unprecedented global pandemic that has recently devastated the earth, many Westerners blame China. Yet, even if the virus originated in China, the Chinese people are not themselves to blame for the existence of the virus. Moreover, in the eyes of many Westerners, all Asians look alike, and therefore, any Asian on sight can be an object of hate and derision in Western countries. To make matters worse, Westerners

March 31, 2020

[Elisa Martinuzzi] Everybody’s trusting the bankers again

Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 are upending every corner of economic life, bringing entire industries to a standstill across the world. What happens in the broader economy has a massive impact on the banks that oil its wheels; and financial regulators have -- rightly -- responded swiftly. The supervisors should ponder their next moves carefully, however. It is essential to soften the blow of companies and people not being able to repay their debts, as income evaporates. Lenders will

March 31, 2020

[Anjani Trivedi] Dollar squeeze coming for China Inc.

Pummeled by the coronavirus, China Inc. now faces another disruption: a global shortage of dollars. Chinese companies are looking at $120 billion of debt repayments this year on their US dollar denominated debt. Real estate developers and industrial companies make up three-quarters of the outstanding $233 billion of junk-rated bonds. There’s another $563 billion of higher-rated debt. The question isn’t just whether they’ll be able to pay their debt. It’s worth wondering

March 27, 2020

[Serendipity] This time, get it right on sex crimes

Reading the news on secret chat rooms on Telegram where videos of sexual exploitation were traded feels like wading through filth. So much so, I consciously stayed away from it as much as possible until Wednesday, when it was no longer possible. Leaving Jongno Police Station in Seoul on Wednesday, Cho Ju-bin stood in front of a photo line for the press. Without a mask or cap to cover his face, there stood the 24-year-old man who is alleged to have blackmailed dozens of women and minors into f

March 26, 2020

[Kim Myong-sik] Ridiculous election system breeds disposable parties

History shows that even raging wars do not restrain politicians’ fervor for power. The nation is now at war against the new coronavirus. Guns are not being fired, but so many warriors in imperfect protective gear are fighting an invisible but ubiquitous enemy while casualty numbers are updated on a daily basis. Despite the atmosphere of public desperation and panic, politics goes on in full vigor ahead of parliamentary elections. During the Korean War, President Syngman Rhee carried out t

March 25, 2020

[Shang-Jin Wei] Beating the virus and the economic pandemic

Back in January, I predicted that the spread of the new COVID-19 coronavirus in China would reach a turning point by the second or third week of February. Indeed, the total number of serious and critical cases in the country has been declining since Feb. 22, and there have been no new cases in the last few days other than international travelers arriving in China. Unfortunately, new infections outside China have risen very fast, with potentially disastrous consequences for public health and the

March 25, 2020

[Stephen L. Carter] Ethics of shopping in a pandemic

When my local supermarket opened for business at 6 a.m. the other day, I had my plan of action in place. The instant the door was unlocked, I hurried to the pharmacy aisle, where I found, to my surprise and delight, three bottles of rubbing alcohol. But now I faced a puzzle. Should I play homo economicus and buy them all? Should I follow the Lockean proviso and leave as much and as good in common for others? Torn by competing priorities, I bought two of the three bottles, leaving the third for

March 24, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Remembering Korea’s charms in these difficult times

Due to the recent coronavirus outbreak, we are now unable to travel to foreign countries freely. Some time ago, however, a South Korean could visit virtually any place on earth and feel at home wherever he went. For example, he could watch Korean movies and television shows on Netflix or Amazon anywhere, anytime. Korean cuisine and groceries were available everywhere. He could even drop by a karaoke room, easily available in many foreign cities, to sing his favorite Korean songs. As someone wh

March 24, 2020

[David Fickling] Looming fall of Gulf’s oil empire

For much of the world, oil wealth is a curse. Endowed with ample reserves of hydrocarbons, the likes of Nigeria, Angola, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Venezuela frittered the benefits away. Only in the Persian Gulf has oil been a nation-building blessing. The discoveries of petroleum in the mid-20th century turned an anarchic, desperately poor region into one of the most affluent places on the planet. Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are all richer than Switzerland. Even Saudi Arabia, Bahrai

March 23, 2020

[Stephen Mihm] Roosevelt’s public-private alliance can help beat virus

It would be charitable to describe the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as sloppy and uncoordinated. Thankfully, there is a model for an epic national comeback. It dates back to the weeks following the attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, when President Roosevelt created the War Production Board, one of the most dynamic public-private partnerships in history. The US entered World War II woefully unprepared. It possessed staggering economic power, but almost none

March 23, 2020