The Korea Herald

Tax reform could lead shift away from inequality

In online bidding held by the Taipei City Government for “lucky” license plate numbers, a businessman spent NT$3.589 million to pick up “8888-88.” During an anniversary sale in Taipei 101 Mall, nine shoppers each spent more than NT$10 million, and another spent NT$50 million, at a single store. With

Oct. 21, 2011

[Eric X. Li] ‘Bad emperor’ problems: One-party rule not rigid

SHANGHAI ― Change is in the air. By revolutions, elections and other methods, governments are changing hands across a wide swath of the world. Two most notable peaceful successions are occurring in none other than the most important pair of countries in the world, the United States and China. In the

Oct. 21, 2011

[Eric X. Li] ‘Bad emperor’ problems: One-party rule not rigid

As Kaldor’s facts fall, ‘Occupy Wall Street’ rises

In Economics 101, students learn that the share of national income received by labor stays roughly constant with the share received by capital. This is the first of “Kaldor’s stylized facts,” articulated half a century ago by the Cambridge economist Nicholas Kaldor. Recent experience betrays this le

Oct. 20, 2011

[David Ignatius] Unlikely fish in the trawlers’ net

WASHINGTON ― So now maybe every Quds Force operative or al-Qaida sleeper agent will have to worry that when he discusses a plot, he may unwittingly be talking to an undercover informant from the DEA or the FBI. And that paranoia is certainly all to the good. But I have a nagging concern about t

Oct. 20, 2011

[David Ignatius] Unlikely fish in the trawlers’ net

France’s Socialists getting realistic on Europe crisis

In a vote that may have serious consequences for Europe’s economic crisis, the French Socialist Party showed laudable level-headedness this week in selecting the moderate Francois Hollande as its presidential candidate for next year’s election. Hollande ran on a platform that was largely free of the

Oct. 20, 2011

Romney’s fuzziness may weigh on general election

There is a possible scenario under which Mitt Romney could lose the Republican presidential nomination. Rick Perry, Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann galvanize social-issue conservatives and might win the Iowa caucuses in early January. A week later, the often contrarian and independent-minded primary

Oct. 20, 2011

[Brahma Chellaney] China emerges as water hegemon

NEW DELHI ― International discussion about China’s rise has focused on its increasing trade muscle, growing maritime ambitions, and expanding capacity to project military power. One critical issue, however, usually escapes attention: China’s rise as a hydro-hegemon with no modern historical parallel

Oct. 20, 2011

[Brahma Chellaney] China emerges as water hegemon

Wall Street’s 1% meets 2 billion seeking answers

It’s all about location, location, location, as they say in real estate. Protests, too. There were more obvious places for Tokyo’s Occupy Wall Street protest to converge on Saturday than the nightlife district of Roppongi. It could have begun in Nihonbashi, home to the Tokyo Stock Exchange; Nagatach

Oct. 19, 2011

[Robert Reich] Ripples from Europe’s debt crisis

It’s impossible to know whether Occupy Wall Street will coalesce into a political movement, but there’s little question Wall Street is still up to its old tricks.Right now the Street is dedicating all its lobbying power to water down regulations designed to implement financial-reform legislation. It

Oct. 19, 2011

[Robert Reich] Ripples from Europe’s debt crisis

Still tolerating the wrong kind of language

Forgive me for repeating a story I’ve told before but, considering the latest blatant example of religious bigotry in the country, it is worth retelling.Outside a Baptist church in the South several years ago, a black man was crying his eyes out.God came along and asked, “My son, why are you weeping

Oct. 19, 2011

Obama team’s Al-Awlaki memo furthered Bush legacy

Killing terrorists with drones is great politics. To the question, “Is it legal?” a natural answer might well be, “Who cares?” But the legal justifications in the war on terrorism do matter ― and not just to people who care about civil liberties. They end up structuring policy. As it turns out, targ

Oct. 19, 2011

[Richard K. Sherwin] Justice in an age of smartphones

NEW YORK ― On Oct. 3, an Italian appeals court overturned Amanda Knox’s murder conviction and ordered her immediate release from prison. In 2009, both Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were found guilty of the 2007 sexual assault and fatal stabbing of Knox’s housemate, Meredith Kerc

Oct. 19, 2011

[Richard K. Sherwin] Justice in an age of smartphones

Europe’s last stand needs overwhelming firepower

Europe is heading for what could be the last stand in its two-year-old sovereign debt crisis. By the time the Group of 20 nations holds its summit in Cannes, France, on Nov. 3-4, the European Union aims to have a rescue plan sound enough to ensure the financial troubles of struggling governments don

Oct. 18, 2011

[Lee Jae-min] Perils of investment disputes

The U.S. ratification of the Korea-U.S. FTA on Oct. 13 lobbed the ball into Korea’s court one final time. It is being reported that Korea’s ratification procedure will begin soon. One of the key points that the opponents of the agreement raised (again) after last week’s U.S. ratification was the inv

Oct. 18, 2011

[Lee Jae-min] Perils of investment disputes

World must demand an accounting from Tehran

The terror plot by Iran that U.S. officials say they uncovered last week is a serious escalation of lawlessness by Tehran’s leaders that threatens not only American interests but those of other countries in the Western Hemisphere.Mexico and Argentina figure prominently in the provocative scheme to h

Oct. 18, 2011

Occupy Wall Street loves pearls of capitalism

It was probably inevitable that the Occupy Wall Street movement would be rife with contradictions. Back on Sept. 15, two days before the first protest began in lower Manhattan, an organizing principle of sorts appeared on the Adbusters website. “Hey President Obama, get ready for our one demand!” th

Oct. 18, 2011

[Jeffrey Frankel] Barrels, bushels, bonds take global economy for a ride

CAMBRIDGE ― The prices of hydrocarbons, minerals, and agricultural commodities have been on a veritable roller coaster. While commodity prices are always more variable than those for manufactured goods and services, commodity markets over the last five years have seen extraordinary, almost unprecede

Oct. 18, 2011

[Jeffrey Frankel] Barrels, bushels, bonds take global economy for a ride

Planet Earth to welcome the 7 billionth child

At some point this month, October 2011, a child will be born and the world’s population will have reached seven billion. There is a good chance that this childbirth will take place in the Asia-Pacific region; home to 61 percent of the world’s population.If the child is born in the Asia-Pacific regio

Oct. 17, 2011

[Nouriel Roubini] The instability of inequality

NEW YORK ― This year has witnessed a global wave of social and political turmoil and instability, with masses of people pouring into the real and virtual streets: the Arab Spring; riots in London; Israel’s middle-class protests against high housing prices and an inflationary squeeze on living standa

Oct. 17, 2011

[Nouriel Roubini] The instability of inequality

Why Einstein was wrong about being wrong

If you want to get your mind around the research that won three astronomers the Nobel Prize in physics this year, it helps to think of the universe as a lump of dough ― raisin-bread dough, to be precise ― mixed, kneaded and ready to rise. Hold that thought.Now consider Albert Einstein ― not the wild

Oct. 17, 2011