[Noah Smith] Developing nations are dealt a one-two hit to growth

Recent decades have been glorious for developing countries, where rapid growth has lifted millions of their citizens out of crushing poverty. But the coronavirus pandemic is threatening to halt their gains. And in the long term, the decline of the US may pose an even bigger obstacle for developing nations. Starting in about 1990, poor countries started catching up to rich ones. South Korea, Taiwan and some countries in Europe reached a fully developed state. China has powered ahead with one of

Aug. 6, 2020

[Ivo Daalder] What Pompeo gets right about China

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to the Nixon Presidential Library last week to proclaim the American opening to China a grand failure. “What do the American people have to show now 50 years on from engagement with China?” Pompeo asked. His answer: not much. China, the secretary of state intoned, had become a menacing tyranny that had succeeded economically only by robbing America of its jobs and its ideas and now threatened its freedom. Instead of continuing “the old p

Aug. 5, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Good intentions may bring bad outcomes

We tend to believe we are doing the right thing when our intentions are good. Often enough, however, we realize in retrospect that we were wrong at the time despite our good intentions. This is especially true for those who insist that they are doing something for a Grand Cause or for the Greater Good. Those who become obsessed with these righteous visions may not hesitate to sacrifice smaller causes or lesser goods in the name of the ideology they blindly worship. Those self-righteous people ma

Aug. 5, 2020

[Faye Flam] US can control COVID-19 without second lockdown

Rising COVID-19 case counts across the US have made a second lockdown seem almost inevitable. It is likely to be months before a vaccine could end the coronavirus pandemic, and the US is also months away from using the testing-and-tracing strategy that other countries have used to keep new outbreaks from expanding. But Americans can’t be expected to stay in their homes for months on end. The rational, fair, humane way forward is for society to balance pandemic safety against other vital n

Aug. 4, 2020

[Clara Ferreira Marques, Matthew Brooker] Hong Kong takes the zero-risk poll option

Hong Kong’s decision to bar a dozen pro-democracy candidates from contesting legislative elections and then to postpone the vote by a year won’t leave its economic prospects unscathed. It’s a striking reminder of how threatening elections can be for authoritarian governments -- even those where the system is stacked in their favor. The authorities’ actions further narrow the scope for public dissent in the former British colony, after Beijing passed a national security l

Aug. 4, 2020

[Kwon Soon-yong] Telemedicine in the era of post-COVID-19

As the coronavirus crisis emerged, South Korea distinguished itself on the global stage on the basis of its excellent health care system, quality of medical staff and personnel, and most of all, the collective strength of its citizens coming together to rise above the challenge of a potential epidemiological crisis. Korea’s response to the crisis -- the rapidity with which diagnostics kits were developed, produced, and distributed as well as early adoption of innovative practices such as

Aug. 3, 2020

[Serendipity] Turn crisis into opportunity for arts

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has raged on for more than seven months now, it was said that there would be a plethora of books about the time of the novel coronavirus in the years to come. Judging by recent press releases, artists appear to be already at work trying to make sense of these confusing times. But how many artists will make it through these rough times when the cultural scene remains crippled following the monthslong virtual shutdown? Even in better days, &ldqu

July 31, 2020

[Robert J. Fouser] Sejong City back in limelight again

Sejong City is back in the limelight. Politicians of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, are rallying behind a proposal to move the president, the National Assembly, and government ministries from Seoul to Sejong. Named after King Sejong, whose epithet is “the Great,” the city grew out of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s plans to encourage balanced regional development by moving the capital from Seoul to the center of the country. The city was founded in 2007 and parts of th

July 31, 2020

[Jean Pisani-Ferry] Challenges of post-pandemic agenda

There is a growing possibility that the COVID-19 crisis will mark the end of the growth model born four decades ago with the Reagan-Thatcher revolution, China’s embrace of capitalism, and the demise of the Soviet Union. The pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of human societies and fortified support for urgent climate action. And it has strengthened governments’ hand, eroded already-shaky support for globalization, and triggered a reappraisal of the social value of mundane ta

July 30, 2020

[Kim Myong-sik] Pandemic provides excuse for return to nuclear energy

Former Korea Exchange Chairman Hong In-kie devoted his life after public service to research on international energy issues. While teaching at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul Campus, he joined the crusade to save the nuclear energy industry in this country as the new government chose to depart from the promising sector in the stretch of its leftist ideology. During the 2017 presidential election following the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, liberal candida

July 30, 2020

[Michael R. Strain] Keep your eye on the ball, Republicans

Senate Republicans are in conspicuous disarray following last week’s failed effort to unify behind a package of economic recovery measures. In part, that’s because Republican senators are too deferential to a chaotic White House. Many GOP lawmakers also question whether the economy needs a fourth round of relief legislation to address the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and whether additional spending would be effective. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

July 29, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Waiting for Korea’s ‘New Mutants’

In 1964, Leslie Fiedler, a distinguished American literary critic, announced the advent of the Age of the New Mutants. In his monumental essay, “The New Mutants,” Fielder envisioned the American youth of the 1960s as new mutants who cut off their attachments to mainstream culture and created a new image of America marked by diversity and multiplicity. Indeed, these “New Mutants” of counterculture radically altered the conservative terrain of American society and remade

July 29, 2020

[Mihir Sharma] Poor countries running out of time to get rich

The United Nations currently predicts that by 2027, India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country. Estimates suggest India and Nigeria will together add 470 million people in the next three decades -- almost a quarter of the world’s population increase to 2050. According to a new study from the University of Washington, however, several developing nations may find their so-called demographic dividend much less of a boon than anticipated. Published in the Lancet, t

July 28, 2020

[Philippe Legrain] Europe’s recovery fund doesn’t address deepest problems

After four days and nights of tough negotiations and many painful compromises, European leaders have reached a deal on a groundbreaking 750 billion euros ($868 billion) recovery fund. As a gesture of solidarity toward Italy, Spain, and other countries still reeling from the COVID-19 crisis, the agreement is a major step forward for the European Union. Even so, it does little to address the eurozone’s deepest problems. The COVID-19 crisis has strained the monetary union to breaking point.

July 28, 2020

[Daniel Moss, Clara Ferreira Marques] Thailand needs a shake up to emerge from COVID-19 war

Thailand has been playing by the rules and getting little benefit from obeying economic orthodoxy. A reshuffle among top policymakers after a string of departures, just as the nation emerges from coronavirus hibernation, is an opportunity to be bolder. The conservative nature of military-backed rule suggests tinkering is the more likely outcome than an embrace of bigger change. Stagnating even before the pandemic hit, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy will shrink 8.1 percent this

July 27, 2020

[Digital Simplicity] Paid advertisements disguised as ‘honest’ reviews on YouTube

Fashion stylist Han Hye-yeon and singer Kang Min-kyung recently came under a storm of criticism for their failure to reveal that what they promote on their YouTube channels are actually product placements, or PPL. At a time when leading YouTube stars rake in tons of money through promotional events sponsored by high-profile advertisers, some reckon the outpouring of public anger against Han and Kang might have gone too far. However, a closer look at what really happened reveals the flaw in t

July 26, 2020

[Noah Smith] Trump did nothing to help economic boom

The public gives President Donald Trump very low marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and race relations. But as recently as the end of June, the public was still giving him slightly positive marks for his handling of the economy. That edge may now be eroding, but Trump’s numbers on economic policy are still much better than on other important issues. It’s obvious why Trump gets decent ratings on the economy -- before the coronavirus outbreak in March, he had presided

July 23, 2020

[Arvind Subramanian] China has blown its historic opportunity

Until recently, China was unmistakably trying to be a hegemon in the image of the United States, increasingly complementing its growing hard power with soft power. But China seems to have missed its opportunity to build a serious rival to, or even supplant, the existing world economic order fashioned by the US following World War II. All the elements of success seemed to be falling into place for China. It launched the Belt and Road Initiative, a transnational infrastructure investment program

July 23, 2020

[Ivo Daalder] Trump drives Iran toward China

In May 2018, President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal because it was “defective at its core.” But if Tehran were willing to negotiate a better agreement, he would be “ready, willing and able” to join them. Last week, Iran announced that it was ready for a new deal. Unfortunately, that deal would be with China, rather than the United States. And instead of curtailing Iran’s nuclear capabilities, the new agreement would est

July 22, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

In the famous fairy tale “Red Riding Hood,” a girl goes on an errand to bring food to her sickly grandmother who lives in the woods. Aware of this, the Big Bad Wolf rushes ahead to her grandmother’s house, devours the grandmother and dons her clothes, then waits for the girl whose nickname is Red Riding Hood in disguise. When she arrives, the wolf swallows her too, and falls asleep. Just in time, a woodcutter comes to the rescue. He cuts open the belly of the wolf and takes out

July 22, 2020