[Becky Faith] The danger of digitalizing aid

BRIGHTON -- Digital systems are critical to development and humanitarian activities, but they can expose some of the world’s most vulnerable communities to unforeseen risks. Recent examples from Afghanistan highlight these dangers. In September, it was reported that the UK Ministry of Defence had been involved in two separate data breaches, potentially compromising the safety of participants in the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy program, which is intended to protect people who h

Dec. 22, 2021

[Eli Lake] Who’s appeasing Putin now

On the campaign trail in 2020, then candidate Joe Biden posed as hawk on Russia. In response to reports (later discredited) that then President Donald Trump had ignored intelligence suggesting Russia had paid for bounties on US forces in Afghanistan, Biden declared that Trump’s “entire presidency has been a gift to Putin.” Biden’s attitude was partly explained by his party’s obsession with the (also discredited) theory that Trump conspired with Russia to win the 20

Dec. 22, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] Suppose John F. Kennedy were our next president

Many Koreans often lament that they have not had great leaders with legacies such as John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, or Abraham Lincoln: If South Korea were lucky enough to have had such famous leaders, she would surely have been a more advanced and admirable country. Facing the Presidential Election Day in March 2022, many Koreans wish to have a great leader comparable to the above-mentioned political leaders. Thus, they wonder; “What would happen if one of those great

Dec. 22, 2021

[Jeffrey D. Sachs] Avoiding the worst in Ukraine and Taiwan

Two dangerous flashpoints, in Europe and Asia, could bring the United States, Russia and China into open conflict. The crises over Ukraine and Taiwan can be resolved, but all parties must respect the others’ legitimate security interests. Acknowledging those interests objectively will provide the basis for a lasting de-escalation of tensions. Consider Ukraine. Although it undoubtedly has the right to sovereignty and safety from a Russian invasion, it does not have the right to undermine R

Dec. 21, 2021

[Luigi Zingales] Burying the laissez-faire zombie

“The return of the state” is a phrase seemingly on almost everyone’s lips nowadays. Given the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, the argument goes, it is governments, not markets, that should be responsible for allocating resources. The neoliberal revolution started by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher has apparently run its course. New Deal-style state intervention is back. But this opposition of state and market is misleading, and it poses

Dec. 21, 2021

[Andrew Sheng] We need a global summit on inequality

Income and wealth inequality is unjust, and yet the world continues to tolerate rising injustices, the most recent being inequalities in vaccine distribution. French political economist Thomas Piketty and his colleagues at the World Inequality Lab have just published the World Inequality Report 2022, a real goldmine in data and insights on global inequalities. I found at least three nuggets inside that are blindingly obvious. First, inequality is primarily a political issue. We can all do so

Dec. 20, 2021

[Michael Khodarkovsky] Russia is repeating same old pattern

This year marks the 300-year anniversary of Peter the Great’s declaration of himself as emperor and Russia as an empire. But it also marks another important date: 30 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the first is a cause for celebration, the second for regret. During his two decades in power, Putin has spared no effort dismantling Russia’s embryonic democracy and restoring Russia to its former glory. This is Putin&rsqu

Dec. 20, 2021

[Lee In-hyun] Do you know Mr. John Williams?

When I was little, I frequently watched the movie “Home Alone” during the holiday season. The movie became a must-see for the holiday, just as “The Nutcracker” is an essential Christmastime performance. Although I watched “Home Alone” every year, it never got old. I cannot imagine spending Christmas without it. When I was a graduate student in Boston, I was approached by my friend who asked me about John Williams. She had an extra ticket to a Williams concert

Dec. 20, 2021

[Robert J. Fouser] App fear and public health measures

After pressure from a group of embassies in Seoul, the South Korean government agreed to allow foreign residents to register overseas vaccinations for use in the COOV app vaccine pass and to apply for booster shots. Korean nationals vaccinated overseas and foreign residents with quarantine exemptions have been allowed to register their overseas vaccinations, but most foreign residents could not register their vaccination status. Fear over the omicron variant prompted the government to expand the

Dec. 17, 2021

[Andreas Kluth] Crisis of masculinity as robots replace men

It’s not easy being female. But it’s often no picnic being male either. The world is changing faster than ever and, with it, so are notions of masculinity. Many men are feeling unmoored, for better or worse. If you happen to be James Bond, you take this flux in stride and effortlessly turn from the Sean Connery version of manhood into the more vulnerable and complex Daniel Craig variety. But how many real-life men have an inner 007 to channel? The reality for many of those who aren

Dec. 16, 2021

[Kim Myong-sik] Kim Jong-un’s influence on presidential campaign

Today, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un marks 10 full years of ruling the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. As his father Kim Jong-il died of heart failure on Dec. 17, 2011, Jong-un, the third son, then 29, immediately took over as chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party, DPRK, so as to not leave a power vacuum. He then added the various titles his father had held one by one: He became the supreme commander of the DPRK Armed Forces at the end of the year, a

Dec. 16, 2021

[Stefanie Stantcheva] Inside America’s polarized views on race

Debates about race have frequently dominated news coverage in (and about) the US, often following acts of racial violence or legal proceedings against their perpetrators. But while Americans’ attention to issues of race continues to ebb and flow with the news, there seems to be little agreement among citizens and policymakers on what, if anything, to do about them. One stark and long-standing racial disparity is visible in the differences in socioeconomic outcomes for Black and white Amer

Dec. 15, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] A comparison of Japan, Korea and US

Recently, a Korean journalist stationed in Tokyo wrote an amusing article comparing Japan, Korea and the US. He wrote of his experience in each of the three countries when he tried to change the delivery date of a TV he had purchased. In Japan, the customer service agent was extremely nice and friendly, but declined his request politely, saying it was against the policy. In Japan, you are rude if you try to change your appointment when the prearranged date is near. In Korea, the customer consu

Dec. 15, 2021

[Trudy Rubin] US boycott shows Beijing’s demeaning of sports world

In 1936, human rights advocates pushed for a boycott of the “Nazi Olympics,” two years after Adolf Hitler seized power and began persecuting Jews. Some critics claimed the move was hypocritical given the ongoing discrimination against Black people in the United States. In the end, however, the games went on, with Black US track star Jesse Owens winning four gold medals. Thus, the 1936 games dealt a blow to Nazi claims of “Aryan” racial supremacy. Fast forward to the upc

Dec. 14, 2021

[Martin Schram] Here’s what Xi can learn from Putin

In his quest to make his country the undisputed leader of the global economy, China’s President Xi Jinping can learn a lot from his next-door neighbor, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Not about what to do, but about what not to do. Except Xi just doesn’t seem to get it. Putin has been putting on a cram course of a clinic that you would think would be helping his nominally still-communist neighbor figure out how to out-capitalist the capitalists. Someday in the not-far-off

Dec. 14, 2021

[Shang-Jin Wei] Misreading China’s WTO record hurts global trade

The 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization on Dec. 11 has once again highlighted long-standing debates about how well China has lived up to its WTO obligations, and whether any deviation from its commitments boosts or slows its economic growth. This discussion affects many countries’ views on whether the current global trading system should be built up or pulled down. Former US President Donald Trump was bent on pulling down the WTO, by rendering inope

Dec. 13, 2021

[J. Bradford DeLong] The great labor market shake-up

Approximately 13 percent of low-wage jobs in Germany would not be viable if workers understood just how good their outside options truly are. That is the conclusion of a recent paper by Benjamin Schoefer, my colleague here at the University of California, Berkeley, and his co-authors, Simon Jager, Christopher Roth and Nina Roussille. “When comparing workers’ subjective outside options against objective measures of pay premia from matched employer-employee data,” they note, &

Dec. 9, 2021

[Lee Kyong-hee] How to rekindle inter-Korean exchanges

History repeats itself -- and it oftentimes is not kind. I have been reminded of this in the closing weeks of the past several years. As Korea approached the 21st century, hearts filled with hope and eyes rejoiced at sights unseen before. The history of an undivided Korean Peninsula seemed likely to be repeated. But a Cold War freeze rose again. On Nov. 18, 1998, a cruise ship left Donghae Port on the east coast, carrying the first group of 826 South Korean tourists to Kumgangsan in North Kor

Dec. 9, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] 'Dogani' shows power of literature and film

There are times when a literary work or a film is powerful enough to change a person’s life or even an entire social system by altering our consciousness. It means that literature and film can play an important role in both human lives and social progress. Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a good example. Lee’s powerful novel and its superb movie version, starring Gregory Peck, have changed so many people’s lives. The novel and the movie also changed m

Dec. 8, 2021

[Tracy Miller] Build Back Better could fuel inflation

After working on it for several months, the House of Representatives recently passed the Build Back Better Act. It’s status in the Senate is uncertain, but if enacted, it’s expected to increase government spending by $1.75 trillion over 10 years. With the legislation’s tax increases and tougher IRS enforcement, the Congressional Budget Office estimates a smaller, $250 billion increase in the deficit. But if temporary and sunset provisions designed to keep the official cost d

Dec. 8, 2021