Republican tax plan steamrolls democracy

The US Congress is set this week to pass a horrendous tax bill that will give the rich and corporations hefty tax cuts, will increase the deficit by $1 trillion over 10 years, will leave 13 million people uninsured by eliminating the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and will force cuts in federal programs as revenues dry up. In terms of unfairness and reckless economic policy, it will rank among the worst legislations ever passed.But this bill is a travesty not only for what’s in it, but

Dec. 20, 2017

[Adam Minter] Google’s China bid won’t end well

In 2006 the Chinese government allowed Google to establish Google.cn for Chinese internet users. In return, Google agreed to scrub results of content that the government found objectionable. The deal held until 2010, when Google decided it could no longer agree to such terms. Within hours, the site was blocked and Google’s search business on the mainland was dead.　The Alphabet unit never completely gave up on China, however, and last week it launched its most recent effort to capture a piece of

Dec. 20, 2017

[Shannon O’Neil] Populism looms over Latin America’s election year

In 2018, nearly 2 out of every 3 Latin Americans will head to the polls to elect new leaders, and the fight against corruption will be high on their agenda. The surge to throw the bums out could be a harbinger of cleaner politics. But a revival of the region’s tradition of populism could also threaten the nascent institutions and mechanisms that are Latin America’s best hope for a more honest tomorrow.Voters are rightly enraged about corruption. In Mexico, governors have allegedly stolen land, p

Dec. 20, 2017

[Andrew J. Bacevich] As American statecraft crumbles, where is the Senate?

Where is J. William Fulbright when we need him? Or if not Fulbright, perhaps Robert M. La Follette or George W. Norris. Personally, I’d even settle for William Borah or Burton K. Wheeler.　During the 20th century, each of these now largely forgotten barons of the US Senate served the nation with distinction. Their chief contribution? On matters related to war and peace, they declined to kowtow to whoever happened to occupy the office of commander in chief. On issues involving the safety and secur

Dec. 19, 2017

[Michael Pettis] Let China’s workers roam free

Over the past few weeks, people in Beijing have been riveted by the so-called migrant “clean-out” -- the government’s attempt to evict tens of thousands of migrant workers from their homes in the poorer parts of the city. What’s not being discussed, however, is how the crackdown could threaten one of the government’s other main priorities: managing debt.　In China, mobility is legally restricted according to a household registration system, called the hukou. Chinese citizens receive an urban or r

Dec. 19, 2017

[Jagannath Panda] Moon’s China policy holds key to Northeast Asian peace

It remains unclear whether Moon Jae-in’s recent visit to China from Wednesday to Saturday has brought Sino-South Korean relations back on track. However, the visit has given a much-required boost to the two countries’ low-spirited bilateral ties.If anything, Moon’s visit has certainly encouraged both sides to return to their core economic-oriented engagement without neglecting the need to have a “peaceful” northeast Asian security environment that has always been their backbone in the post-Cold

Dec. 19, 2017

[Conor Sen] Bad news for doomsayers (good news for workers!)

Despite a US unemployment rate that’s at its lowest level in 17 years, gloomy types manage to see dark omens.Some, especially those shaped by the inflationary period in the late 1970s, fear that when the labor market achieves a state of full employment, as it may have already, we will see not just higher wages, but also an inflationary spiral that could get out of hand without a rapid tightening of monetary policy.　Other skeptics, enamored by new technologies like robots, artificial intelligence

Dec. 18, 2017

[Ferdinando Giugliano] Eurozone needs more than new road map

When the European Council meets Thursday and Friday, one document for discussion will be the European Commission’s new plan for the future of monetary union. Many of the ideas are not so much innovative as useful. Others look difficult to enforce. Most importantly, the reform plan will remain yet another meaningless document until eurozone heads of governments actually spell out what they want.The “Roadmap for deepening Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union,” which was published last week, follow

Dec. 18, 2017

[Trudy Rubin] Why Trump’s Jerusalem stance rules out ‘ultimate’ Mideast deal

When President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel earlier this month, he called it a “long-overdue step to advance the peace process.”Yet the president’s ill-timed Jerusalem speech has had exactly the opposite impact. It has undermined, probably fatally, the unlikely mission he assigned to his son-in-law Jared Kushner and lawyer friend Jason Greenblatt: to concoct the “ultimate” Israel-Palestinian peace deal.On Wednesday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected any futu

Dec. 18, 2017

[Danny Westneat] The right really was coming after college next

It was no joke: The right really was coming after college next.Last summer a spate of news items read like a parody, describing how conservatives suddenly were telling pollsters that America’s higher-education system was a pox on the country.“Majority of Republicans say colleges are bad for America (yes, really)” read one such headline, from Newsweek. That the writer felt the need to add the parenthetical “yes, really” says it all, about how rapidly our country’s tribes are polarizing. It’s to t

Dec. 17, 2017

[Markos Kounalakis] Star Wars and drone spies threaten America’s defenses

Star Wars’ newest episode “The Last Jedi” is hitting screens nationwide this week, but less entertaining is this season’s latest space weaponry and commercial drone deployments that increasingly threaten America’s national security.　Kim Jong-un may be planning to use his nuclear and missile technology not to land an explosion on US soil, but to blast it in space. Such an explosion would trigger a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse that could cripple satellites and blind any nation that relies o

Dec. 17, 2017

[Los Angeles Times] How to make sexually misbehaving politicians pay

If a lawmaker is accused of sexual harassment, why should the taxpayers be the ones who end up paying to settle the case? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the official himself — the individual accused of the wrongdoing — to pay? Wouldn’t that be more likely to discourage harassment by public officials and be fairer to taxpayers as well?　Some people clearly think so. Sexual harassment legislation proposed by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) — the ME TOO Congre

Dec. 17, 2017

[Ferdinando Giugliano] Don’t penalize workers for retiring later

The last decade has seen most countries in the rich world raise the retirement age in order to improve the sustainability of their pension systems at a time when people are living longer, healthier lives. The policy is moving in the right direction, but it has one key flaw -- current policies are too rigid.Retirement should not be a one-size-fits-all system where those who work longer or retire earlier are penalized. Provided they get it right, governments and citizens have much to gain from a m

Dec. 15, 2017