Here’s why budget airlines aren’t less safe

One hundred and fifty — that’s how many lives were lost when Germanwings 9525 crashed into the French Alps a year ago this month. In the immediate aftermath, concerns were raised about safety in the budget-travel industry, concerns that some analysts were quick to dismiss. “When you pay less at a budget airline, you do get what you pay for; it’s just less in terms of frills and customer service, not less in terms of safety,” opined one expert. Statistics seemingly agree, showing no difference in

March 15, 2016

[Raphael Hadas-Lebel] France’s move to limit citizenship over terror

Since last November’s brutal terrorist attacks in Paris, a furious debate has been raging in France over whether to revoke the citizenship of those convicted of terrorist offenses. While that move would have significant symbolic value, it would have a limited practical impact. Yet vehement disagreements over the issue continue to drown out discussion of far more consequential topics, like anemic economic growth and high unemployment — and will likely continue to do so.The citizenship issue was i

March 14, 2016

Don’t shoot the messenger

The case of Bangladesh’s Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam becomes more and more curious. What began as theatre of the absurd is starting to look increasingly sinister. Anam, publisher and editor of the country’s leading daily, in a moment of introspection during a TV talk show last month, confessed to professional impropriety in printing leaks from military intelligence in 2007 under the army-backed caretaker government. The leaks contained unverified information alleging corruption by current Prim

March 14, 2016

[Ingrid Newkirk] Why this feminist would ‘rather go naked’

Is it odd that a feminist like me, from back in the bra-burning ’60s, champions racy protests featuring women wearing little more than body-paint markings that mimic a butcher’s diagram? Some might raise an eyebrow, but this March, National Women’s History Month, let me explain why I believe that supporting women’s rights and stripping for a cause go together like Gloria Steinem and miniskirts.With feminism, as with all social movements, each generation has its own battles to fight, and while re

March 14, 2016

[Noah Smith] Picking up where Abenomics left off

If there’s one country that needs creative economic policy solutions, it’s Japan. With many observers saying Abenomics has stalled after a year of weak economic performance, plenty of people are asking what’s next -- or has Japan run out of ideas?The backdrop doesn’t look great. The country is experiencing an unprecedented decline in population. The national debt is mounting. Wages are falling, consumption is depressed and productivity is still stagnating. China, Japan’s biggest trading partners

March 13, 2016

[Mark Gilbert] Banking faces an existential crisis

Who would choose to be a banker these days? Your colleagues are disappearing at an alarming rate as your business shrinks. The regulators don’t want you doing anything exciting. The public despises you.And that’s only the beginning of your problems. The central banks are killing even your most plain vanilla activities with their interest-rate policies. Every quarter, your industry hands over another couple of billion dollars in fines for previous indiscretions and market rigging. Something calle

March 13, 2016

[David Ignatius] America’s political decay and rise of Trump　

Good countries can sometimes go bad. Donald Trump’s supporters implicitly make this argument when they proclaim “Make America Great Again.” And so do those who loathe Trump and see in him a dangerous populist response to the anger of frustrated middle-class voters.The rise of Trump, love him or hate him, conveys an inescapable message: America’s political institutions are in decay, and voters are angry at a government that they perceive (correctly) to be broken. The danger is that Trump’s respon

March 13, 2016

[Frederic S. Mishkin, Amir Sufi] The Fed shouldn’t watch the calendar

The U.S. Federal Reserve faces a daunting task as it moves away from near-zero interest rates: communicating its plans without unduly shaking up financial markets. The job would be easier if everyone involved recognized that the central bank’s actions must depend on the state of the economy, not on the calendar.Consider what happened in July 2015, when Chair Janet Yellen gave a policy speech in Cleveland. Out of almost 3,800 words on various subjects, the financial media focused on the following

March 11, 2016

How John Roberts can honor Scalia’s legacy

The sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia has given Chief Justice John Roberts a unique opportunity to affirm the Supreme Court’s rightful place in American politics: keeping the law above politics. He should seize it, even though -- and especially because -- the high court has a tenuous hold on that place.Within hours of Scalia’s death, Republican leaders in the Senate announced that they would not consider confirming his replacement until after the 2016 election. Never before has the Senate a

March 10, 2016

[Tan Hui Yee] Thailand slips deeper into China‘s embrace

Thailand’s navy wants to buy a submarine -- and China‘s offer looks tempting. It is not only cheaper than the rest, but reportedly includes technology transfer and training. That, in a nutshell, describes the kind of friendship that China extends to the Thai military government now -- a relationship smoothed by appealing deals unattached to the political doctrines championed by much of the Western world.Work on the Sino-Thai railway project that will give the trans-Asian rail network a sea outle

March 10, 2016

[Tulsathit Taptim] Corruption vs. democracy

Since the beginning of their prolonged war, corruption has been telling democracy that the latter is far from perfect, and that only by forging a pact together can both thrive. Democracy has been alternating between half-hearted resistance and full rebellion against the suggestion. But then along comes Donald Trump, in the freest land on Earth (or so it seems).Corruption: How will you explain the fact that someone branded a jerk, con-artist, IS recruiter, phony, plain idiot, big liar, phenomenal

March 10, 2016

[Ana Palacio] Europe’s stillborn security strategy

If a strategy is announced and nobody is around to listen, does it make a sound? The European Union will find out the answer this June, when Federica Mogherini, its high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, presents a long overdue foreign and security strategy for Europe -- just when all eyes will be on the United Kingdom’s referendum on EU membership.The EU is adrift and desperately in need of a catalyst to renew its sense of purpose and dynamism. The global strategy could se

March 9, 2016