Heeding the beat of music’s digital revolution

Although the recent rumour about the impending resignation of celebrated songwriter Nitipong Hornak from music industry leader GMM Grammy has not been substantiated, it reflects the stark challenge facing the local entertainment industry from the pervasive evolution of digital technology. In a telling interview with Channel 3 news talk show host Sorayuth Suthassanajinda, Nitipong admitted that he

Jan. 26, 2011

[Matthew Lynn] Offshore banks must adapt or die in WikiLeaks era

You might think this is a great time for the offshore-banking industry. There is a lot of spare cash sloshing around the world. The mega-rich are still piling up money. Taxes are likely to go up as every developed country tries to cope with huge deficits, creating even more incentive to shift money to some island hideaway.But it’s not so easy anymore.A former Julius Baer Group Ltd. banker has hand

Jan. 26, 2011

[Kenneth Weisbrode] The strange rebirth of American leadership

FLORENCE ― At the recent annual meetings of the American Economic Association, there was widespread pessimism about the future of the United States. “The age of American predominance is over,” declared one economist. “The U.S. should brace for social unrest amid blame over who was responsible for squandering global primacy,” said another.We have heard this story many times before, not only in the

Jan. 26, 2011

[Jonathan Zimmerman Sargent Shriver’s Peace Corps legacy

In 1966, my father sent a resume to the Peace Corps. A few days later, he found himself sitting across a table from the agency’s director, Sargent Shriver.“Want to go to India?” Shriver asked.My dad was 33 years old, he had three kids, and his only overseas experience was two vacations in Europe. But he had also attended Yale Law School, like Shriver, which made both of them “certified smart guys,

Jan. 26, 2011

China must fulfil international responsibilities

China, which is on the way to superpower status with its economic wealth and military strength, has become increasingly assertive. Moves by this rising nation have the potential to bring structural changes to the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region.While calling on Beijing for self-restraint, Japan must join hands with neighboring countries and show a resolute stance against China if it ta

Jan. 25, 2011

[William Pesek] Entertainers get China better than Congress

You know we’ve got problems when Barbra Streisand and Herbie Hancock understand the global economy better than John Boehner and Harry Reid. Singer Streisand and jazz great Hancock were on hand for the Chinese president’s White House dinner last week, while House Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Reid and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell wimped out and stayed away. Lawmakers are right to obj

Jan. 25, 2011

Could a foreigner be elected mayor in Korea?

It is pretty amazing reading the story of Jung Heung-won. This Korean lived in Argentina for 10 years, then another five in Lima, until finally moving to Chanchamayo, where he has helped many of those in need. In reward for his efforts, he was easily elected mayor of the latter city this year, since any “foreigner granted residence in Peru can run for public office if he or she lives in the same e

Jan. 25, 2011

[Caroline Baum] China can just say ‘No’ to one American export

At a joint press conference to welcome Chinese President Hu Jintao to the U.S. on Jan. 19, President Barack Obama downplayed contentious issues, such as China’s undervalued currency, and focused instead on areas of economic cooperation. “We want to sell you all kinds of stuff,” Obama said. “We want to sell you planes, we want to sell you cars, we want to sell you software.” One thing not on his ex

Jan. 25, 2011

[Kevin Hassett] Slow-growth U.S. now ripe for consumption tax

The prospect of meaningful tax reform has become the hot topic in the hearing rooms and, just as important, the back rooms of Washington.House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp, Republican of Michigan, devoted his first hearing to the topic, and President Barack Obama’s team is talking up the subject in private and in public.“We’re examining whether we can find the political support for

Jan. 25, 2011

Prime Minister Naoto Kan begins Diet hurdles

The Diet opens its ordinary session today. The results will greatly influence the fate of Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet. By his recent Cabinet reshuffle, Kan has made it clear that he will give priority to unified reform of the tax system ― which would include a consumption tax hike ― and the social welfare system as well as to Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a r

Jan. 24, 2011

Aisle-crossing centrists diminishing in Senate

When independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t seek a fifth term, there was hardly a wet eye in the house. It’s hard to find anybody, conservative or liberal, who has nice things to say about Lieberman, who is so disliked in his home state that the threat of competition from a former pro-wrestling promoter was apparently enough to scare him away from the 20

Jan. 24, 2011

[Linda P. Campbell] Overdoing it on rights of corporations

If a corporation is a “person” under the law, does it get the kinds of “personal privacy” protections real people enjoy ― just because the adjective personal derives from the noun person?AT&T claims it does.But if that’s what federal law means, it will be one more way in which corporate interests trump those of ordinary Americans.Here’s why: Corporations will be able to use the federal Freedom of

Jan. 24, 2011

[Doyle McManus] Health care, one more time

On the most important domestic issues of the day, our two political parties don’t merely lay out competing arguments; they inhabit alternative realities.The chasm was apparent over the last few days as the House of Representatives churned relentlessly toward its vote to repeal President Obama’s health-care law. The two-day debate, carried out in a marathon series of two-minute speeches, remained c

Jan. 24, 2011