[Michael Waldman] Obama needs Clinton rerun for budget gain

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes, Mark Twain is thought to have said. Democrats are hoping that’s true.Fifteen years ago, fierce budget fights between Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress forced the government to shut down twice. The conflict boosted the president, revitalized his vision for government and branded Republicans as extreme.Now, as battles loom over the debt ceiling an

March 3, 2011

Consequences of Mideast democratic tsunami

In recent weeks, dictators across the Middle East and North Africa must have been afflicted with a severe case of agoraphobia ― the morbid fear of open spaces. After all, the groundswell of antigovernment protests have all occurred in squares ― Tunis’ Nov. 7 Square, Cairo’s Tahrir Square and, more recently, Tripoli’s Green Square.By far, Libya’s experience has been the most tragic. On Tuesday, Col

March 2, 2011

Protecting children from abuse by parents

The Justice Ministry’s Legislative Council on Feb. 15 handed Justice Minister Satsuki Eda a recommendation that the civil law be revised so that parental prerogatives can be suspended for up to two years if necessary. The proposed step will make it possible to protect children against abuse and neglect by their parents ― such as violence, molestation, refusal to give meals and medical neglect ― mo

March 2, 2011

[William Pesek] Indian inflation above 9% shows bankers are no longer gods

Duvvuri Subbarao knows a thing or two about inflation. India’s central-bank head defeated price gains exceeding 10 percent twice in the past two years alone.Now, Subbarao is back at battle stations as a chorus of traders say he’s behind the curve. It’s hard to argue with the wisdom of markets with Indian inflation back above 9 percent, the highest among Asia’s 10-biggest economies.Yet the Reserve

March 2, 2011

[Matthew Lynn] Euro saviors flinch at place in history’s dustbin

The euro wasn’t just meant to provide economic harmony. It was supposed to ensure political stability as well. Neither has happened and a generation of politicians will pay for it.Parties win and lose elections all the time. But it is rare to be destroyed as completely as Fianna Fail was in Ireland on the weekend. The party that has dominated Irish politics since independence in the 1920s was push

March 2, 2011

[Daniel Kurtzer] The best U.S. policy for the Middle East

Does the U.S. have the assets, influence and will to affect the course of Middle East politics?At first glance, the answer appears self-evident given the extent of the country’s involvement in the region. Since the 1970s, the U.S. has been seized with Arab-Israeli peacemaking and has given Egypt more than $70 billion in aid. The U.S. has deployed military assets in the Persian Gulf to secure oil e

March 2, 2011

Finding common ground with Chinese tourists

In the past decade Hong Kong and Macau have benefited substantially from mainland Chinese policies of letting an increasing number of tourists into the two cities. Many believed that mainland tourists were part of the contributors that helped lift Hong Kong’s economy out of the abyss following the 2003 SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) crisis. Mainland travellers, especially high rollers, a

March 1, 2011

Much ado about nothing but fantasy

Here comes the latest on China and India. This one’s from American financial services company Citi. It says India, thanks to its robust growth, is expected to surpass China ― and the United States ― by 2050 to become the largest economy in the world. Of course, China is expected to overtake the U.S. to become the largest economy by 2020. The paeans India has received for its fast economic growth (

March 1, 2011

Who’s writing the script in the Middle East?

If we could write the script for the events unfolding in the Middle East, peaceful demonstrators would overwhelm the dictators, who would quickly agree to democratic transitions without bloodshed.The newly liberated countries would proclaim, with universal approval, a future of tolerance, peace and friendship at home, among people of different tribes, religions and beliefs, at home as well as abro

March 1, 2011

Uprisings possible without the Internet

It is not immediately obvious, but nearly all street protests involve only a minuscule proportion of a country’s population. None of the high-profile protests in recent memory, whether in Bahrain, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Iran or Moldova, have involved even 1 percent of the people.The 300,000 Egyptians, for instance, who descended on Tahrir Square in Cairo represent just 0.4 per cent of the country’

March 1, 2011

Bold actions needed to send Gadhafi packing

The response of the United States and the international community to the atrocities committed by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi against his people has been frustratingly slow and ineffectual.While President Obama and other world leaders have dithered, the slaughter waged by Gadhafi’s mercenaries has claimed the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of peaceful protesters on the streets of Tripol

Feb. 28, 2011

Obama’s budget plan doesn’t go far enough

President Obama’s proposed federal budget is far too large.In public statements it has become obligatory to make a smoke cloud about fiscal responsibility, and Obama has done that. “Let’s invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt,” he said.The mountain is already there. As a percentage of the gross domestic product, the mountain of debt is now the highest since the Truman admini

Feb. 28, 2011

[Tom Juravich] U.S. recovery might need public-sector unions

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is wrong. The way to fix his state’s fiscal crisis isn’t by destroying public-sector unions and the half-century tradition of collective bargaining among teachers and state employees.Walker argues that given the growing state deficit, there is no other choice than to slash the wages and benefits of public-sector workers whose compensation, he suggests, far exceeds t

Feb. 28, 2011