Donald Trump’s knack for keeping his message simple -- some would say dumbing it down -- will likely be on display this week when he addresses the nation as its 45th president. If so, he’ll fit right in with his predecessors.Since the days of George Washington, the inaugural address has provided an opportunity for presidents to set a tone and lay out goals for the coming term. In its use of language, it can also indicate the level at which the speaker is trying to connect with the electorate.To

Jan. 17, 2017

If Americans learned anything from President-elect Donald Trump’s press conference Wednesday, it was that the scope of his business enterprises makes it exceedingly difficult for him to separate his personal interests from those of the nation. Trump assured the audience that they shouldn’t worry about financial conflicts or ethical dilemmas because he was going to step aside and let his sons run the family’s Trump Organization. But while that might mean he won’t be making certain corporate decis

Jan. 16, 2017

Any assessment of Barack Obama’s eight-year US presidency should start at the beginning: his first inauguration, on Jan. 20, 2009. The US economy was in free fall: Financial markets had seized up, gross domestic product was shrinking and employment was plummeting, with some 800,000 jobs being lost each month. And two ill-conceived and badly executed foreign wars were underway.In short, upon entering office, Obama confronted conditions more adverse than any incoming president had faced in many de

Jan. 16, 2017

The slow death of the American shopping mall is not evenly distributed. A disproportionate number of recent high profile store closure announcements have been in communities that are already struggling. It’s creating a retail Rust Belt. This version of the Rust Belt won’t be as easy to wrap up into a political platform as the manufacturing Rust Belt, and creates different types of challenges for the communities impacted.　The bad news for physical retail seems to come in waves, and last week was

Jan. 16, 2017

Last week, top foreign policy and security aides to Donald Trump gave some clues as to how the incoming US administration perceives the nuclear and missile threat from North Korea and how it is going to tackle it. In summary, the aides who testified at their respective confirmation hearings were united in seeing North Korea as one of the “grave” threats to the US and the world. The nominees also hinted at active US engagement, including putting more pressure on China, the North’s largest benefac

Jan. 15, 2017

When you’re wrong, you’re wrong, no matter how famous and respected you might be as a scientist. Albert Einstein was wrong about quantum mechanics. Linus Pauling was wrong about the structure of DNA. And Milton Friedman was wrong about the permanent income hypothesis. But unlike with the first two examples, where scientists quickly realized the mistake, economists haven’t yet come to grips with the reality.Friedman’s theory says that people’s consumption isn’t affected by how much they earn day-

Jan. 15, 2017

In the steadfast pursuit of gender equality and to promote nonconformity, it’s become popular in some social circles to start early, very early, by raising young children in a gender-neutral way: not revealing the baby’s sex at birth, dressing them and their bedroom in various shades of oatmeal, encouraging them to play with gender-neutral toys. There’s also pressure on corporations to help; parental complaints led Target to stop sex-segregating its toys, for instance.Offering kids the opportuni

Jan. 15, 2017

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” mutters Marcellus as ghosts and mad spirits haunt Elsinore Castle in the first act of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” After this past week of salacious leaks about foreign espionage plots and indignant denials, people must be wondering if something is rotten in the state of our democracy. How can we dispel the dark rumors that, as Hamlet says, “shake our disposition”? I’d suggest four questions to clear the haze of allegation and recrimination that surround

Jan. 15, 2017

Volkswagen’s indefensible meddling with vehicle emissions to circumvent US environmental standards has cost the international car maker billions of dollars in settlements, fines and lost sales. Now the Justice Department has taken a new, welcome step and indicted six high-level VW employees on conspiracy and fraud charges. Some are accused of overseeing the development of diesel engines equipped with “defeat devices” -- software that could tell the car to increase emissions controls when it dete

Jan. 15, 2017

The friendly crowd in Chicago booed when President Barack Obama mentioned his fast-approaching return to private life when he will hand power to his successor, Donald Trump.“No, no, no, no, no,” Obama stopped them, saying next Friday’s “peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected president to the next” is a “hallmark of our democracy.”It was reminiscent of the times he was campaigning for Hillary Clinton when he would mention Trump and hear even louder jeers from Democratic audiences. Rat

Jan. 13, 2017

In a recent visit to our public market in Los Banos, Laguna, I decided to explore the shops surrounding the market itself. I found myself in a store surprisingly much larger inside than its unassuming facade would suggest, selling various kinds of cheap China-made goods including foodstuffs, clothes, personal articles and household fixtures. There seem to be numerous such stores in various parts of the Philippines now, selling almost exclusively those cheap, everyday China-made goods. Some of th

Jan. 12, 2017

North Korea‘s nuclear brinkmanship took it closer to a showdown with the United States when American President-elect Donald Trump responded to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s latest missile threats. 　“North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US. It won‘t happen!” Trump tweeted. Kim had precipitated that cryptic but visceral response by declaring that his nation was on the brink of testing its first intercontinental b

Jan. 12, 2017