The Korea Herald

[Robert Reich] Health care in dilemma of U.S. political compromise

If the Supreme Court decides the so-called “individual mandate” requiring everyone to buy health insurance is an unconstitutional extension of federal authority, the law starts unraveling. But with a bit of political jujitsu, President Obama could turn that defeat into a victory for a single-payer health care system ― Medicare for all.Here’s how.The dilemma at the heart of the new law is that it continues to depend on private health insurers, who have to make a profit or at least pay all their c

April 8, 2012

[Robert Reich] Health care in dilemma of U.S. political compromise

[Joel Brinkley] Frightening prospects for Afghan women

Half of all Afghans are utterly terrified, understandably so.At least 33,000 American troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan this year. And after all the justified fury over the burning of those Korans and the shooting deaths of those 17 women and children, talk is rife in Washington right now about accelerating the withdrawal.That leaves Afghan women scared to death. A nationwide survey of 1,000 of them by ActionAid, a nongovernmental organization, concludes: “A massive 86 percent are worrie

April 6, 2012

[Joel Brinkley] Frightening prospects for Afghan women

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Hazard of second-best compromises

NEWPORT BEACH ― The international community risks settling for second best on two key issues to be discussed this month at global meetings in Washington, D.C.: the lingering (if currently somewhat dormant) European debt crisis, and the selection of the World Bank’s next president. It is not too late to change course, but doing so will require the United States and governments in Europe to resist harmful habits, and emerging countries to follow up effectively on recent initiatives.In the last few

April 6, 2012

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Hazard of second-best compromises

Bomb attack unlikely to be the last of its kind

Nonetheless, people are doing their best to cope with this tragic situation. The Kingdom mourns for the victims and condemns the culprits behind these attacks.Now, the question is whether security officials and those in positions of power and authority have done their best to protect innocent citizens and whether they can prevent similar attacks from happening again.Top security officials seem not to be totally surprised by the weekend attacks. In fact, according to what Deputy Prime Minister Ge

April 6, 2012

End banks’ monopoly in China

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao emphasized, during his investigative tour on April 3 of enterprises in Fujian province facing financing problems, that the central authorities have “unified their thoughts” on the necessity of breaking the monopoly of state-owned banks and opening up the financial sector so that private capital can feed cash-starved smaller enterprises.Wen’s comments come hard on the heels of the announcement that Wenzhou will be the pilot for financial reforms that will allow local re

April 6, 2012

Chance for Myanmar to make up for lost time

The near sweep by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in the Myanmar by-elections vindicates the once-proscribed National League for Democracy (NLD). Of intriguing significance is what the development could mean for the country’s rehabilitation. In the eyes of voters, Suu Kyi’s restoration to the parliamentary process, after a long enforced absence, is so complete that she could pose a credible challenge to President Thein Sein’s ruling party. Parliamentary elections are due in 2015. The NLD won 43 of the

April 6, 2012

[Andrew Sheng] China in next 30 years must strengthen real economy

“China in the Next 30 Years” is a new collection of 17 essays published in October 2011 on the future of China, of which eight authors are foreigners. This is one of the few books published simultaneously in Chinese and English. Reading the book in both the original and the translation gave me sometimes a complete different reading of the authors’ sentiments, and I had to go back often to the original to find out what the author was really trying to get at. This is a valuable book, precisely bec

April 6, 2012

[Andrew Sheng] China in next 30 years must strengthen real economy

[Carl Bildt] The Afghan endgame mirage

STOCKHOLM ― On a recent visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan, I could not fail to notice the increasingly frequent international calls for an “endgame” in Afghanistan. But an endgame for that country is a dangerous illusion: the game will not end, and neither will history. The only thing that could come to an end is the world’s attention and engagement in Afghanistan, which could well lead to catastrophic consequences.Much international focus is now on the year 2014, the target date for completion

April 5, 2012

[Naomi Wolf] Vaguely defined bill intimidates journalists

NEW YORK ― Last week, I submitted an affidavit to support an important lawsuit brought by reporter Chris Hedges and others, including Daniel Ellsberg and Noam Chomsky, against U.S. President Barack Obama and his defense secretary, Leon Panetta.The lawsuit seeks to stop implementation of the horrific new National Defense Authorization Act, also known as the “Homeland Battlefield Bill,” which Obama signed into law in December. As a result, the United States government’s “war on terror” has come ho

April 5, 2012

[Naomi Wolf] Vaguely defined bill intimidates journalists

Terrorist hijacks French presidential elections

In France, an Islamic terrorist has likely hijacked the agenda for the remainder of the French presidential race. That terrorist is 23-year-old Mohammed Merah, a Franco-Algerian from Toulouse who was fatally riddled with bullets by French forces last week after a 30-hour standoff and took the television remotes of an entire nation with him.Because of Merah, an election fought on economic grounds has become dominated almost exclusively by national security. The extreme nationalist National Front

April 5, 2012

[Eli Park Sorensen] The author pilloried for writing an anonymous text

In 1703, the English novelist Daniel Defoe anonymously published the pamphlet “The Shortest Way with Dissenters.” It almost ruined his career. In the text, Defoe pretends to be a right-wing religious fanatic who proposes that people opposing the Church of England ― puritans and other dissidents ― should be killed. The pamphlet produced a great furor ― the puritans were horrified that it might stir up an already considerable amount of hostility among adherents of the Church of England, whereas th

April 5, 2012

[Eli Park Sorensen] The author pilloried for writing an anonymous text

“Terrorists” at Home

Last week, I submitted an affidavit to support an important lawsuit brought by reporter Chris Hedges and others, including Daniel Ellsberg and Noam Chomsky, against U.S. President Barack Obama and his defense secretary, Leon Panetta.The lawsuit seeks to stop implementation of the horrific new National Defense Authorization Act, also known as the “Homeland Battlefield Bill,” which Obama signed into law in December. As a result, the United States government’s “war on terror” has come home: any Ame

April 5, 2012

The Afghan Endgame Mirage

On a recent visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan, I could not fail to notice the increasingly frequent international calls for an “endgame” in Afghanistan. But an endgame for that country is a dangerous illusion: the game will not end, and neither will history. The only thing that could come to an end is the world’s attention and engagement in Afghanistan, which could well lead to catastrophic consequences.Much international focus is now on the year 2014, the target date for completion of the gradu

April 5, 2012

Who’s afraid of Europe’s human-rights court?

At a time when the ongoing European debt crisis is fracturing public faith in the continent’s political and economic institutions, one would expect Europe’s leaders to strengthen as many unifying symbols as they can. Instead, they have allowed one of the jewels of post-World War II European integration -- the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) -- to come under threat as well.Unlike the Brussels-based European Union, long beleaguered by its democratic deficit, the Strasbourg-based ECHR is, if

April 5, 2012

Terrorist hijacks French elections

In France, an Islamic terrorist has likely hijacked the agenda for the remainder of the French presidential race. That terrorist is 23-year-old Mohammed Merah, a Franco-Algerian from Toulouse who was fatally riddled with bullets by French forces last week after a 30-hour standoff and took the television remotes of an entire nation with him.Because of Merah, an election fought on economic grounds has become dominated almost exclusively by national security. The extreme nationalist National Front

April 5, 2012

Herbert Hoover returns with awful economic ideas

In economic circles, no slight stings more than being compared to Herbert Hoover. The 31st U.S. president, who helped make the Depression of the 1930s great, ranks among history’s worst growth killers. Ryutaro Hashimoto, Japan’s prime minister from 1996 to 1998, went to his deathbed in 2006 seething over being tagged as Asia’s Hoover. Among those doing the labeling was former Sony Corp. chairman Norio Ohga. Hashimoto’s crime? The same as Hoover’s ― an ill-timed and ill-advised tax increase that

April 5, 2012

[J. Bradford DeLong] The long shadow of depression

BERKELEY ― Four times in the past century, a large chunk of the industrial world has fallen into deep and long depressions characterized by persistent high unemployment: the United States in the 1930s, industrialized Western Europe in the 1930s, Western Europe again in the 1980s, and Japan in the 1990s. Two of these downturns ― Western Europe in the 1980s and Japan in the 1990s ― cast a long and dark shadow on future economic performance. In both cases, if either Europe or Japan returned ― or, i

April 4, 2012

[J. Bradford DeLong] The long shadow of depression

Bo Xilai’s sudden fall and the future of China

“All is not well in the People’s Republic.” So proclaim China-watching Hamlets around the world. They seem to have ample evidence. Six months before the 18th congress of the Chinese Communist Party, when a major transition of leadership is to take place, a political earthquake is riveting the nation.Bo Xilai, one of China’s most prominent leaders, a member of the Politburo and son of one of the founding fathers of modern China, was removed from his position as party secretary of Chongqing. The a

April 4, 2012

The Saenuri Party’s misunderstood move left

In the year leading up to the general election, the Saenuri Party faced an important decision. Party support was flagging and the issue of the redistribution of wealth solidified as the second most important issue to the nation behind job creation, according to the monthly public opinion polls conducted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Traditionally, the Saenuri Party has hung its hat on the economy and security, and while the Saenuri Party has always been seen as competent on the econo

April 4, 2012

[Paulina Neuding] Anti-Semitic hate crimes in Europe

STOCKHOLM ― Rabbi Shneur Kesselman estimates that he has been the victim of 100 or so anti-Semitic confrontations since he arrived in the southern Swedish city of Malm in 2004. The latest was just a few days ago, when some young immigrants in a car spotted him on his way home after the evening service at the synagogue. The driver accelerated up onto the sidewalk as if trying to run him over.Kesselman leads the Jewish congregation in Malmo, a town where many Jews are now afraid to wear a yarmulke

April 4, 2012

[Paulina Neuding] Anti-Semitic hate crimes in Europe