[Elizabeth Drew] Staff change reveals more about Trump 　

Donald Trump, the US Republican Party’s presidential nominee, has again shaken up his campaign organization. In doing so, he is revealing more about himself and his so-called management style than he may want people to see. Few presidential campaigns have featured such evident chaos and churn in personnel.Two people who have never run a presidential campaign, and whose political instincts contradict each other’s, are now running Trump’s operation.Kellyanne Conway, his new campaign manager, is a

Aug. 30, 2016

Greetings from Earth, Proximans

“We hit the jackpot here.” -- Astrophysicist Guillem Anglada-Escude, on a planet “more or less” like Earth orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star nearest to our solar system.An open letter to our friends on Earth II or Proxima b (or whatever you call your planet):Greetings, fellow cosmos dwellers!We were thrilled to hear the news that your Earth -- we hope you don’t mind if we call it that -- is a lot like our Earth. Slightly bigger, yes. And we’re told your year takes only 11 days (which means Chr

Aug. 30, 2016

[Robert J. Fouser] Raising Korea’s low fertility rate　

On Aug. 25, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a series of measures aimed at raising South Korea’s low birthrate by 2020. The measures focused on changing the workplace culture so that people will have more time to spend with their families, which should encourage them to have more children. The government also promised to increase support for infertility treatment and increasing paternity allowances for parents who have a second child. The government hopes to raise the fertility rate

Aug. 30, 2016

[Mac Margolis] Waging peace in Colombia

In the coming weeks, Colombians will be asked to cast a vote like none other in the country’s history. The sole question on the ballot will be whether Latin America’s third most populous nation should ratify a historic peace agreement to end the longest-running guerrilla insurgency in the Western Hemisphere.　It seems like a silly question: After a conflict that has raged for half a century, taken 220,000 lives and uprooted more than 6 million people, what’s to decide? And yet, it’s a measure of

Aug. 29, 2016

[Virginia Postrel] When what you buy is who you are 　

The bearded guys in muted-plaid shirts and the lean women with low-maintenance hair may look like they’re on vacation, but they’ve come for serious business: the Outdoor Retailer show, which this month drew 29,000 attendees to Salt Lake City. There, deals get done for mosquito-resistant shirts and night-vision scopes, along with every imaginable form of hiking shoe, water bottle, tent, kayak, lantern and backpack, as well as the materials to make them.Although the National Park Service is celebr

Aug. 29, 2016

[Rachel Marsden] Data leaks are symptom of a sick democracy　

From WikiLeaks to DCLeaks, there‘s no shortage of leaked data popping up online, some of it highly classified. When such information is leaked, much of the attention focuses on the identity of the source. But the source is largely irrelevant if the data is credible. (Typically you’ll know the data is credible if the subject of the breach complains about it to authorities.) Rather, we should ask ourselves whether we really want a culture of total transparency and accessibility to be the new norma

Aug. 29, 2016

[Fawaz A. Gerges] Trump’s pro-Islamic State foreign policy

Donald Trump’s recent claim that his opponent in the US presidential race, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and President Barack Obama founded the Islamic State extremist group is vicious nonsense. But it is also an ironic charge for Trump to make: If anyone in the United States is helping the IS group, it is he.In a recent speech on foreign policy, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee laid out a supposed plan for defeating IS that, in classic Trump fashion, overflowed with cont

Aug. 28, 2016

[Adam Minter] How big can China’s cities get?

By any measure, Shanghai is one of the world’s biggest cities. It‘s home to more than 24 million people. Its subway system is the longest ever built, extending to its rural limits. Crowds are so thick that burly “shovers” get paid to help pack the trains. Now the local government is saying enough is enough: Documents released this week reveal that Shanghai intends to admit a mere 800,000 new residents over the next 24 years, on its way to becoming an “excellent global city.”　A population cap on

Aug. 28, 2016

Transatlantic squabble over Apple’s taxes

The US Treasury thinks it’s bad enough that companies such as Apple park piles of cash overseas to avoid paying tax. What’s worse is when foreign authorities change the rules that attracted the money in the first place, and tax those holdings for themselves.In effect, the European Commission is threatening to do just that. Apple and other US companies could soon be hit with retrospective demands for tax running into the billions of dollars. This week the Barack Obama administration objected, acc

Aug. 28, 2016

[Danforth Austin, Barbara Frye] Press freedom doesn’t come for free

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is cracking down on Turkish civil society following the failed coup in July.Beyond purging thousands of military officers, judges, and educators, the government has issued arrest warrants for dozens of journalists, and shuttered more than 100 news agencies, publications and radio and television stations.The crackdown in Turkey is a major story, and it should make us appreciate the countless unsung reporters and editors worldwide who struggle every day to

Aug. 26, 2016

[Tyler Cowen] Nations can act like startups, too

The virtues of business startups have led to many a success story. These enterprises start with clean slates. They embody the focused and often idiosyncratic visions of their founders. The successful ones grow faster than their competitors. Even after they become larger and more bureaucratic, these companies often retain some of the creative spirit of their startup origins.It is less commonly recognized that some nations, including many of the post-World War II economic miracles, had features of

Aug. 25, 2016

[Gideon Lasco] Augmenting reality with ‘Pokemon Go’

News that “Pokemon Go” had reached Philippine shores came to me just as I finished hiking up Kuju Volcano, the highest mountain here on Kyushu island. Though the news came alongside reports on many other developments that day -- the opening of the Rio Games, the plan to bury Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, and Donald Trump’s latest gaffe -- it was the one that excited my peers the most, judging by my Facebook feed.　“Pokemon Go” is the latest iteration of a game that many in my ge

Aug. 25, 2016

[Ronald Eberhard] E-commerce and TPP 　

Amazon, Lazada, Grab, Uber and the Trans-Pacific Partnership share a common interest in Indonesia. All favor openness and competition in the field of e-commerce. 　The intention to open up the economy is surely to attract more investment in e-commerce. However, it will come at a cost that is not low, as opening up the economy for competition surely will reduce the policy space of the government.　The government needs policy space to regulate for public interest. It remains to be seen how the TPP w

Aug. 25, 2016