[Michael Schuman] Can South Korea save liberalism?

While much of the world’s attention is fixated on North Korea and its nuclear ambitions, something with the potential to be equally globe-rattling is taking place, generally unnoticed, in South Korea. There, new President Moon Jae-in is charting an entirely contrary course in economic policy than much of the rest of the developed world. If successful, the experiment could alter how governments tackle the most challenging problems of our day. Moon is embarking on a highly liberal economic program

Sept. 26, 2017

[Jay Ambrose] Trump not that bad at UN

Take it easy, you want to advise President Donald Trump when he says in a United Nations speech that the United States is going to “totally destroy” North Korea if it attacks us or our allies. But there is something you want to add.Don’t take it as easy as Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who irresponsibly set us up for long-lasting intimidation, still more nuclear proliferation and the increased possibility of a nuclear holocaust down the road.It was 23 years ago that P

Sept. 25, 2017

[Adam N. Michel] How corporate tax cuts would benefit workers

Businesses seldom raise wages due to a sense of corporate benevolence. Rather, wages rise when the demand for workers increases. This forces businesses to increase wages out of self-interest in order to keep their employees from being hired away by competitors.This basic tenet of economics explains why corporate tax cuts produce higher wages for workers.That may seem counterintuitive. Most people think a corporate tax cut just means bigger profits for businesses -- profits that are used to line

Sept. 25, 2017

[Christine M. Flowers] Plenty of reasons to cheer about Trump’s speech to the United Nations

While other people worried about what President Donald Trump meant when he discussed “sovereignty,” and while other people wrung their hands and mopped their brows because he wasn’t being polite to North Korea, seated in the front row at his inaugural speech to the United Nations, I heard this: “It is a massive source of embarrassment to the United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on the UN Human Rights Council.”While journalists hyperventilated about the ton

Sept. 25, 2017

[Editorial] Adjust anti-graft law

An anti-graft law targeting public officials, media workers, teachers and their spouses will have been in force for a full year on Thursday. Obviously, the Improper Solicitations and Graft Prohibition Act has produced positive results, and it is a welcome phenomenon for the law to have paved the way for a more ethical culture. A clear majority of Koreans believe the law has served its objective of rooting out corruption.According to a survey of 1,202 people, released by the Korean Sociological A

Sept. 25, 2017

[Ann McFeatters] Maybe Trump should watch PBS

If you’re a glutton for punishment, you’ve been watching Ken Burns’ “The Vietnam War” series on PBS. If you’re a glutton for punishment, you also watched Donald Trump’s speech at the United Nations threatening to destroy North Korea.Wow. We have learned nothing!During the Vietnam War, as now, America was frighteningly divided. It was a bitter, hateful, destructive period.Burns’ series, of course, is compelling and beautifully done. It is also extremely painful to watch. The senseless killing and

Sept. 24, 2017

[Chicago Tribune] How Congress ducks responsibility for wars

In April, President Donald Trump ordered a US missile strike on a Syrian military airfield, punishing the regime for a chemical weapons attack. Bashar Assad has no friends on Capitol Hill, but some lawmakers, from both parties, objected to Trump’s decision to carry out an act of war without congressional consent.Demoractic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island spoke for this group when he said, “The administration is also going to have to set out the legal justification for tonight’s action and any fut

Sept. 24, 2017

[Gloria Johns] Volunteer military, or a draft?

On Dec. 1, 1969, 366 blue plastic capsules containing birthdates for every day of the year, including Feb. 29, held the fate of men born between 1944 and 1950. Unceremoniously, the capsules were first dumped into a cardboard box and then, having been shuffled, were dumped into a glass jar to be randomly chosen, one by one.But this was a lottery with no million-dollar prize and, in fact, there would be no winners. When your number was up, so to speak, it meant that the Selective Service had chose

Sept. 22, 2017

[William Magnuson] Next crisis will start in Silicon Valley

It has been 10 years since the last financial crisis, and some have already started to predict that the next one is near. But when it comes, it will likely have its roots in Silicon Valley, not Wall Street.The world of finance looks very different today than it did 10 years ago. In 2007, our biggest concern was “too big to fail.” Wall Street banks had grown to such staggering sizes, and had become so central to the health of the financial system, that no rational government could let them fail.

Sept. 21, 2017

[Christopher Balding] Why China is so confident

If you only read the headlines -- or, say, my columns -- you might be pessimistic about China’s economy. Recent news has been dominated by a crackdown on capital outflows, worries about rapid debt growth, and efforts to rein in a risky overseas investment binge.Yet ordinary Chinese are highly optimistic: The China Consumer Confidence Index hit 114.6 in July, a level not seen since 1996. This is a logical reaction to some significant improvements in China’s economic outlook. And for the governmen

Sept. 21, 2017

[Baltimore Sun] Who’s the madman, Kim or Trump?

President Donald Trump has hurled plenty of harsh words at North Korea before, but nothing approaches his promise at the United Nations today that if forced to defend itself or its allies, the United States would “totally destroy” the country. He did not promise a military response of unprecedented size and strength, as he has before. He did not even threaten “fire and fury,” as he had in some previous, ad libbed remarks. Speaking from a prepared speech in front of leaders and diplomats from mor

Sept. 21, 2017