[Ferdinando Giugliano] Italy shows how to tackle coronavirus impact

The Italian government has announced a stimulus package of 3.6 billion euros ($4 billion) to help the economy cope with the Coronavirus outbreak. The response appears timely and proportionate. Rome can always add to the stimulus later -- provided the financial markets allow it. Roberto Gualtieri, minister of finance, said in an interview Sunday that he was looking at a three-step plan to support companies and workers. Italy is the European country most affected country by the COVID-19 epidemic,

March 4, 2020

[Eli Lake] Why Taliban is hailing US peace plan

On the eve of the ceremony to sign an agreement with the US to begin peace negotiations, the Taliban declared it had already won. “This is a day of victory,” said Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, a Taliban negotiator. “Victory has come with the help of God.” In one sense, this crowing seems premature. While it’s true that the US intends to reduce its troop presence from more than 12,000 to 8,600, further withdrawals are conditioned on the Taliban adhering to its co

March 3, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Between Seoul and Granada: Memories of Alhambra

Ostensibly, the Alhambra Palace does not seem to have anything to do with the “fourth industrial revolution.” The former is a famous 13th century Moorish palace located in Granada, Spain and the latter a recent phenomenon that deals with artificial intelligence, the internet of things, 3d printers, smart cars that drive themselves, drone technology, nanotechnology, 5g mobile communications and augmented reality. Recently, however, Korean TV show “Memories of the Alhambra&rdqu

March 3, 2020

[Ferdinando Giugliano] Europe’s coronavirus plan is not enough

The economic damage from the coronavirus epidemic has prompted calls for Europe to relax its fiscal rules to allow governments to cut taxes and increase spending. The European Commission seems to agree: Paolo Gentiloni, its economy czar, has hinted that affected governments -- such as Italy -- may enjoy some budget “flexibility” to deal with the emergency.　 Granting more leeway is a welcome step, but it’s only a second-best approach. The virus risks affecting some countries mu

March 2, 2020

[David Fickling] What the virus end game will look like

Pandemics come and pandemics go. In the grip of a new infection spreading around a planet with no natural immunity, it can feel like the sky is falling. Over the coming months, it’s likely that a significant share of the world’s population will experience some of the dread of the COVID-19 coronavirus that people in China have suffered over the past few months. Many will die. Still, the likely end-point of this outbreak will see it settle down as an endemic disease -- one of the sui

March 1, 2020

[Noah Feldman] Coronavirus has come to the US and lawsuits won’t be far behind

The coronavirus called COVID-19 has spread beyond its origin in Wuhan, China, and has arrived on U.S. shores. I’m a law professor, not an epidemiologist, so my thoughts immediately turned to how the law would shape America’s collective response to a broader pandemic -- and what the government’s power will mean for individual rights under the Constitution. It’s a question that could soon become an urgent one -- I recently interviewed Marc Lipsitch, the brilliant epidemiol

March 1, 2020

[David Fickling] Coronavirus complacency is worse than panic

Don’t think about a white bear. What did you just see in your mind’s eye? If the answer was “a white bear,” you’ll have grasped one of the problems facing public health officials in talking about the risks from the Covid-19 coronavirus. The message most experts will want to convey is, naturally, “Don’t panic.” But it’s almost impossible for humans to hear that instruction without its alarming echo: “Panic.” If Covid-19 turns in

Feb. 27, 2020

[Jean Pisani-Ferry] A radical way out of the EU budget maze

In 2003, I co-authored a report on the future of the European Union -- the Sapir report -- in which we observed that the expenditures, revenues, and procedures of the EU budget were all inconsistent with the EU’s objectives. We therefore advocated a radical restructuring of what had become a “historical relic.” Seventeen years later, little has changed. Two years ago, when negotiations on the budget for 2021-2027 started, I pointed out that the outcome would reveal what the EU

Feb. 27, 2020

[Serendipity] Do not let virus destroy us

  The entire country, and increasingly the world, is gripped by the fear of a possible viral pandemic. In South Korea, what seemed at first controllable is now virtually out of control, with new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infections growing by the hundreds every day and the number of deaths -- most of patients already in poor health with preexisting conditions -- climbing as well. The government has been releasing information on the infected, providing a timeline of their wherea

Feb. 27, 2020

[Kim Myong-sik] ‘Crime and punishment’ of former president

Last week, the Seoul Appellate Court handed down a sentence of 17 years’ imprisonment to Lee Myung-bak, who was president of the South Korea from Feb. 25, 2008, to Feb. 24, 2013. The judge added two more years to the 15-year term the Seoul Central District Court had given him in October 2018. There are some possibilities of a change in his future. The Supreme Court may deliver him a different final verdict – if he chooses to appeal. The Justice Ministry may suspend the execution of

Feb. 26, 2020

[Jeffrey Frankel] Will the virus trigger global recession?

At the start of this year, things seemed to be looking up for the global economy. True, growth had slowed a bit in 2019: from 2.9 percent to 2.3 percent in the United States, and from 3.6 percent to 2.9 percent globally. Still, there had been no recession, and as recently as January, the International Monetary Fund projected a global growth rebound in 2020. The new coronavirus, COVID-19, has changed all of that. Early predictions about COVID-19’s economic impact were reassuring. Similar e

Feb. 26, 2020

[Robert J. Fouser] Developing an appropriate response to COVID-19

As news of the surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Daegu spread, The Drudge Report, a sensationalist site run by investigative reporter Matt Drudge, ran a photo of a thermal imaging device monitoring people at Seoul Station. A few weeks earlier, the same site had a photo of a group of demonstrators in Seoul calling for a ban on travel from China. The linked to an article on the spread of “Sinophobia” worldwide. These images touch on an important question that has been

Feb. 25, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Wavering between hope and despair

The world is now experiencing an unprecedented crisis due to a new coronavirus pandemic. So is South Korea, where the number of COVID-19 patients are increasing exponentially each week. At the same time, unfortunately, we have so many other compelling issues to deal with these days. Recently, I had a long conversation with professor Lee O-young, an eminent literary critic and former minister of culture, on a variety of issues we are now facing. When our conversation drifted into North Korea&rs

Feb. 25, 2020

[Christopher Hill] Denuclearizing Pyongyang: A long road to peace

Just one year ago, it was widely believed in many quarters that the Donald Trump Administration was making progress in convincing North Korea to engage in an effort -- albeit a lengthy one -- to denuclearize. The Singapore process that started in that city only nine months before appeared to be giving birth to some real developments, ones that would surely be clear when President Trump’s Air Force One and Kim Jong-un’s retrolooking armored train both arrived in Hanoi. Just as in Si

Feb. 24, 2020

[Aryeh Neier] China’s great leap into epidemic

Before the world had any knowledge of the new coronavirus that has sparked a global panic a Wuhan-based ophthalmologist, Li Wenliang, noticed something strange in a few patients. They seemed to have contracted an unfamiliar virus that resembled severe acute respiratory syndrome, which hobbled China nearly a generation ago. A few days later, after Li had sent a warning message to several doctors in a group chat, the 34-year-old doctor was summoned by the police, who forced him to sign a letter

Feb. 24, 2020

[Hal Brands] From Japan to Britain, world loves hosting US troops

The US has a global military footprint that is second to none, and one of the most visible aspects of that footprint is a worldwide network of bases. From Japan to the UK, America’s overseas installations allow it to shape events thousands of miles from US shores. Critics have long argued that basing troops abroad also creates anti-American sentiment, making Washington’s worldwide presence toxic and self-defeating. A recent study turns this critique on its head, showing that foreign

Feb. 23, 2020

[Digital Simplicity] Consumers face dilemma of subscription economy

What is called a “subscription economy” is not so far removed from the everyday life of ordinary Koreans. A growing number of Korean consumers, especially those in their 20s, are embracing this new model that favors subscriptions over ownership. For digital services and software, this makes sense. Netflix is a case in point. Korean viewers, who once preferred downloading video files from online hard drive service operators, are signing up for the global video streaming platform. Th

Feb. 21, 2020

[Elizabeth Drew] Who can beat Trump?

The US presidential election in November is the most consequential in modern history. Whether the increasingly authoritarian, vindictive and dangerous Donald Trump wins another four years in power could define the US for a long time to come. This year’s election will be no typical struggle between two parties that differ more in degree than in kind. But first, the Democrats must select their candidate, and this time that contest is exceptionally fluid. Former Vice President Joe Biden&rs

Feb. 19, 2020