[Albert R. Hunt] Tillerson never had a chance under Trump

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insists that he’s staying at Foggy Bottom following reports that, after one humiliation on top of another from President Donald Trump, he threatened to quit. On PredictIt, a prediction market for politics, people who think Tillerson will be in his present job at year’s end could have put down 71 cents on Thursday morning for a chance to win a buck; a 30-cent wager could win the same dollar if they’re wrong.Go for the bigger payout.Despite Tillerson’s ineptitude a

Oct. 8, 2017

[Adam Minter] China is hoops country

When the Minnesota Timberwolves tip off in a sold-out game against the Golden State Warriors in Shenzhen next Thursday, the most popular jersey worn into the stadium won’t belong to Stephen Curry, Karl-Anthony Towns or even Yao Ming; it’ll be Kobe Bryant’s. The players shouldn’t be miffed, however. The enthusiasm for Bryant -- still the most popular athlete in China, despite his recent retirement -- is evidence of something that’s rarely acknowledged: Basketball, not the soccer so loved by Chine

Oct. 2, 2017

[Bloomberg ] Shinzo Abe’s momentous gamble

If Shinzo Abe wins the snap election he’s just called for next month, he could become Japan’s longest-serving postwar prime minister. A better legacy would be as the man who reshaped the world’s third-biggest economy.Abe came into office pledging first and foremost to transform the economy. He’s made some progress -- bringing more women into the Japanese workforce, improving corporate governance, negotiating (and now, keeping alive) the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and welcoming mor

Oct. 1, 2017

[Noah Smith] Japan has to spend less on well-off elderly

When discussing Japan’s debt, most people get caught up in the issue of fiscal solvency. As everyone by now knows, Japan has a very high level of debt versus gross domestic product:This attention-grabbing number -- about twice the level of the US -- often gets people asking whether Japan will default. Some believe a default is likely when the country runs out of domestic buyers for government bonds, causing interest rates to rise. Others think the Bank of Japan can simply print money and buy gov

Sept. 29, 2017

[Adam Minter] China could seize a bit of the skies

Last week, the Commercial Aviation Corp. of China (Comac) announced that the C919, China’s first homemade large passenger jet, had chalked up its 730th preorder. Those numbers won’t necessarily make the Boeing or Airbus SE quake; Boeing estimates Chinese airlines alone will require 5,420 new single-aisle planes by 2036. Ultimately, though, they could herald the end of global aviation’s great duopoly.Most of the C919’s orders come from state-owned Chinese companies, some of whom probably wouldn’t

Sept. 28, 2017

[Letter to editor] Moon: bread-and-circuses?

I am the Canadian owner and director of an English hagwon near Suwon. I’ve lived in Korea for 17 years now, been married to my lovely Korean wife for 15, and been running a hagwon for about 10.Much has happened in my time here since the year 2000. I’ve watched the stellar rise of Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and others. I’ve seen Korea reach the final four in the World Cup, and I’ve learned very much to respect the hard-working attitude of Korean workers and students. It is with great pride that I tell

Sept. 28, 2017

[Namwali Serpell] Becoming an American citizen in the age of Trump

I felt my first real twinge of regret about not being a US citizen in 2008, when Barack Obama was elected president.An American university where my father once worked as a professor had helped secure green cards for my whole family, in 1992. (I was 11 at the time.) I had renewed my green card twice since then. People often asked why I hadn’t applied for citizenship. This is the life I’m used to, I’d say: smugly returning jury notices, watching elections from a safe distance, standing in endless

Sept. 28, 2017

[Letter to the Editor] Reforming institutions needed for sustained growth

South Korea needs to improve the institutional environment if it wants to achieve sustained growthRecently, Korea hosted an international conference in Seoul addressing sustained growth in Asia. Surprisingly, Korea’s economic growth model is quite similar to the Japanese model. Although Korea has maintained conservative monetary policy and fiscal balance, the nation does not have sufficient resources to support its aging population. Policymakers are concerned about Japanese-style stagnation if K

Sept. 27, 2017

[Leonid Bershidsky] Germany’s nationalists join 13 percent club

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) result of 12.6 percent in Sunday’s election wraps up an important political season for European nationalist populists. It’s a showing that has worried many both in and outside Germany; but, all things considered, it’s another defeat for the far right, which appears to have hit its ceiling in Western Europe for now.The AfD was promptly congratulated by Geert Wilders, whose Party for Freedom (PVV) won 13.1 percent of the vote in the Netherlands in March, and by Ma

Sept. 27, 2017

[Noah Feldman] Trump’s new travel ban could win over justices

Can the addition of North Korea and Venezuela save President Donald Trump’s third travel ban from the constitutional flaws of his first two? By rights, the answer should be no -- and the new ban would be unlikely to survive careful judicial scrutiny of its shaky logic.But in the real world, the US Supreme Court may take the opportunity to de-escalate the ongoing conflict between the Trump administration and the judiciary. If that is so, a majority of the justices could simply defer to Trump’s as

Sept. 27, 2017

[Justin Fox] The consequences of the US baby bust

As people in other wealthy countries fretted in the 1990s and 2000s over what falling birthrates would mean for economic growth and retirement-program finances, the US seemed to have far less to worry about. Fertility here remained at or near the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman over her lifetime, and the country’s long-honed ability to attract immigrants and quickly integrate them into the workforce provided a further economic boost.Times have changed. Immigration has been a contentious

Sept. 26, 2017

[Trudy Rubin] Best approach to Iran deal: Fix it, don’t nix it

There seems to be no end to nuclear crises these days.As North Korea’s Kim Jong-un plays nuclear chicken with the great powers, another dangerous moment is approaching. The world awaits President Trump’s decision -- due Oct. 15 -- on how he will handle the 2015 deal with Tehran that curbed Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.In his UN speech Tuesday, Trump called the deal one of the worst he’s ever seen. And it does indeed contain big flaws, most notably i

Sept. 26, 2017

[Robert Fouser] Donald Trump’s North Korea strategy

Speeches to the United Nations General Assembly are usually diplomatic, but not this year. US President Donald Trump took the opportunity this year to lash out at North Korea by threatening to “totally destroy” it and referring to its leader Kim Jong-un as “Rocket Man.” Kim responded by calling Trump a “mentally deranged US dotard” and holding an anti-American rally in Pyongyang. The recent round of insults has raised tensions and questions about what each man is trying to achieve.　The key to un

Sept. 26, 2017