[Lionel Laurent] The more Macron accomplishes, the more unpopular he becomes

“Remember when we all believed in Emmanuel Macron?” The question comes not from an angry trade unionist but a stand-up comedian in central Paris, facing a crowd of 30-something urbanites cut from the same cloth as France’s 42-year-old president. A collective groan of “yes” rises from the audience, many of whom spent the winter struggling through transport strikes triggered by a flagship pension reform that crippled the city. Only one dismissive “no!” rin

Feb. 5, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] “Star Wars”: In the name of peace and justice

When I saw “Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope,” the first of its series, in 1977, I was mesmerized. The fabulous galactic imagination of George Lucas led me on a true adventure through a vast, unknown universe. Since I was a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy already, this futuristic movie enthralled me, as it magically transported me to a fantastic future land. There was another reason why I liked the movie. When I watched the original Star Wars trilogy, Korea was still under

Feb. 4, 2020

[Andrew Gilmour] Preventing climate change is a human rights issue

Every society in the world is going to pay a price for global warming. But it’s the poorest countries and communities who will suffer the most from rising seas and burning lands -- and likely also from any drastic measures taken to prevent climate change. The environmental crisis is closely linked to the humanitarian one, and requires the joint action of climate and human rights activists. They’d seem to be natural allies. They both regard (with good reason) today’s situation

Feb. 4, 2020

[Clara Ferreira Marques] Thailand’s economy was already sickening

Outside China, Thailand has the largest number of patients infected by the novel coronavirus. Unfortunately, the export-reliant $500 billion economy, Southeast Asia’s second-largest, was sickly even before the outbreak of the pneumonia-like illness. That reflects simultaneous blows from the Sino-US trade war, the worst drought in decades and a stubbornly strong currency. Add in Beijing’s newly imposed restrictions on Chinese travelers, who account for the lion’s share of arriva

Feb. 3, 2020

[David Fickling] Airlines aren’t about to succumb to coronavirus

Airlines are perpetually on the alert against crashes. That doesn’t mean the coronavirus epidemic will lead to any corporate disasters. The outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan could push some airlines in Asia to the wall, according to Alan Joyce, chief executive officer of Australia’s biggest carrier Qantas Airways. “A lot of airlines may not be able to keep some of these operations going,” he told Bloomberg News. “It’s survival of the fitte

Feb. 3, 2020

Present and future of Korea's medical AI

In March 2016, Koreans were stunned by the match between Alpha Go, an artificial intelligence program, and Lee Se-dol, a world-renowned Go champion. In many ways, the match marked a turning point in public perception of AI here. Domestic industrial applications of AI rose, including in the medical sphere. This is an encouraging phenomenon, but without proper intervention, it may be too late to catch up with the US and China, which have more mature ecosystems of AI research and commercialization

Feb. 3, 2020

[Jan-Werner Mueller] Christian democracy or illiberal democracy?

For years, a conflict has been brewing between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the European People’s Party, the supranational organization of Christian Democratic and center-right parties in European Union member states. After much hesitation, the EPP suspended Orban’s party, Fidesz, last March, and is now deciding whether to expel it. It has plenty of good reasons for doing so. Fidesz has not only dismantled democracy and the rule of law in Hungary, but also demonized the

Feb. 2, 2020

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Has Davos man changed?

This year marked the 50th anniversary of the World Economic Forum’s flagship meeting of the world’s business and political elites in Davos, Switzerland. Much has changed since my first Davos in 1995. Back then, there was euphoria over globalization, hope for ex-communist countries’ transition to the market, and confidence that new technologies would open up new vistas from which all would benefit. Businesses, working with government, would lead the way. Today, with the world f

Feb. 2, 2020

[David Fickling] Small weapons are the most potent in virus fight

How do you turn a disease outbreak into an epidemic? The best way might be to mix infected people with the healthy for long periods in crowded conditions, and then move them around to new locations. That’s worrying, because that more or less describes the situation of many people at the center of China’s coronavirus outbreak. Yang Zhongyi, a 53-year-old woman in Wuhan with feverish symptoms, has been unable to get full-time admission to hospitals or testing in the city for two week

Jan. 30, 2020

[Jean Pisani-Ferry] Explaining triumph of Trump’s economic recklessness

Since he was elected US president, Donald Trump has done almost everything standard economic wisdom regards as heresy. He has erected trade barriers and stoked uncertainty with threats of further tariffs. He has blackmailed private businesses. He has eased prudential standards for banks. He has time and again attacked the Federal Reserve for policy not to his liking. He increased the budget deficit even as the economy was nearing full capacity. On a policymaker’s “Don’t Do&rdqu

Jan. 30, 2020

[Serendipity] Still perplexed after all these years

In October 2005, I visited Pyongyang and Myohyangsan with a small group of South Korean travel journalists. This was the time of the Roh Moo-hyun administration when there were robust inter-Korean exchanges. A year earlier, I had traveled to the Kumgangsan resort and attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a South Korean company-invested 18-hole golf course. I also visited Singyesa Temple, where a South Korea-led project to restore the Silla-period Buddhist temple had just commenced. Writing

Jan. 30, 2020

[Slawomir Sierakowski] The twilight of EU foreign policy

Reporting on a recent conference in Berlin to discuss the conflict in Libya, one of Germany’s largest newspapers, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, notes that, “the days when America dominated the Middle East are over.” For more than a decade, the United States has been pulling back, forcing Europe to unfurl its own protective umbrella, either through the European Union or through the foreign policies of individual member states. It is now clear that the second option is winnin

Jan. 29, 2020

[Kim Myong-sik] Moon, Choo must cooperate in Yoon’s probe

Battles are underway on multiple fronts ahead of the general election this spring. Of course, noisiest are the demonstrations at Gwanghwamun and those in Seocho-dong, Seoul, by anti- and pro-government groups alike, though they are still abstaining from violence. Amazing yet saddening is the vehement contest between the two top authorities of law enforcement. When President Moon Jae-in appointed Choo Mi-ae as justice minister, the new minister wasted little time before transferring senior a

Jan. 29, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Clones and drones in era of AI

Recently, Korean universities are busy belatedly preparing for the “Age of Artificial Intelligence,” implementing new curricula and projects in academic departments and graduate schools and hiring experts in AI. It is high time, then, that we should ponder issues related to artificial intelligence with reference to our present predicament. “Oblivion,” a 2013 post-apocalyptic science fiction film set in 2077, well illustrates problems related to AI. In 2017, extraterrest

Jan. 28, 2020

[Robert J. Fouser] Reviving economic growth in South Korea

South Korea’s economy grew 2.01 percent in 2019, just over the government goal of 2 percent. The growth rate is the lowest since 2009, when the world economy was reeling from the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. Increased government spending helped offset weak exports and private investment. Government spending may help boost the economy over the short term, but it is not sustainable over the long term. Compared to many advanced nations, 2 percent growth is an admirable achievement.

Jan. 28, 2020

[Borge Brende] Cooperation in unsettled world

The world is at a turning point, with power shifting and dispersing in ways that signal the emergence of a new multipolar era. In the resulting turbulent global environment, opportunities to compete or cooperate are increasing across several domains. In areas such as the economy, technology and the environment, the question is whether parties will seek progress toward common objectives or strategic advantages over competitors. For much of the post-Cold-War era, issues like trade, scientific res

Jan. 27, 2020

[Jonathan Bernstein] Unspoken charge that should doom Trump: lawlessness

For three days, the House managers serving as prosecutors in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump set out the details of his effort to strong-arm Ukraine into aiding his 2020 reelection, and then argued that those details constitute reason to remove him from office. They made a strong case. Using the power of the presidency to push a foreign power to smear a political opponent is an abuse of that power, a “high crime and misdemeanor” in the constitutional phrase set

Jan. 27, 2020

[Sarita Nayyar] The case for consumption equality

Discussions about economic development often focus on how to increase income equality. More recently, however, thoughtful observers have begun to regard consumption equality -- the equal use of goods and services -- as a more robust indicator of parity in human wellbeing. After all, it more accurately captures inequality as people experience it when they consume, and consumption can be affected by borrowing and saving, as well as by social safety-net programs.But consumption equality is a double

Jan. 23, 2020

[Lindsay Gorman] Trump’s weak trade deal with China completely ignores big picture

By many counts, the trade deal President Donald Trump signed on Jan. 15 with China lacks heft. It doesn’t remove all the tariffs, it doesn’t impose any major penalties on intellectual property theft, and it punts completely on issues including China’s state subsidies to prop up its own companies in international markets.Yet on one matter, the agreement could dramatically alter the US-China relationship and the future of global democracy.At the signing, Trump trumpeted a future

Jan. 22, 2020

[Leonid Bershidsky] Making babies to grow economies won’t work

In his recent state of the nation address, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent about 20 minutes on a sweeping constitutional reform proposal designed to keep him in power indefinitely -- and about twice as much time on ideas meant to boost the birth rate. This is typical of Europe’s national-conservative governments, and even some relatively liberal ones, that are preoccupied with fertility policies because of declining populations.　In a just-published working paper, economist Charles J

Jan. 22, 2020