The Korea Herald

[Rachel Marsden] Bush still a bogeyman to Europeans

If online comments and e-mails from friends are any indication, the overwhelming feeling about the American debt crisis here in Europe is that if Barack Obama is now in a position of having to raise the debt ceiling or face default, the crisis can only be traced back to George W. Bush.Europeans are, in part, blaming Bush’s post-9/11 military funding ― yet somehow the phrase “overstretched Greek ar

Viewpoints July 31, 2011

[Rachel Marsden] Bush still a bogeyman to Europeans

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Pity the policymakers in crisis

NEWPORT BEACH ― I don’t know about you, but whenever I am in an airplane experiencing turbulence, I draw comfort from the belief that the pilots sitting behind the cockpit’s closed door know what to do. I would feel very differently if, through an open door, I observed pilots who were frustrated at the poor responsiveness of the plane’s controls, arguing about their next step, and getting no help

Viewpoints July 29, 2011

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Pity the policymakers in crisis

[Editorial] Fundamentalism is the enemy behind terrorists

When news broke of a bomb detonation in downtown Oslo, Norway, many initially assumed it was the work of Islamic terrorists. When later reports came in that a shooting rampage had also occurred on an island just off the coast of Norway’s capital, some believed Europe was witnessing a Mumbai-style attack. Later, however, the world discovered that these atrocities, which have claimed the lives of at

Viewpoints July 29, 2011

[Editorial] Three nations must act to get action from N. Korea

Resuming the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear development programs will be meaningless if it is done with no conditions attached.It is vital to continue to press Pyongyang to take concrete action so that substantive progress is made toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South Korean Foreign Affairs and Tr

Viewpoints July 29, 2011

[Joel Brinkley] Palestinians sit out Arab Spring

RAMALLAH, West Bank ― Right now, Israeli authorities are battling hundreds of activists trying to fly into the country from Europe and the United States, in support of the Palestinian cause. Israel has jailed dozens of them and deported hundreds. They call it the “Flytilla”In Greece, several ships carrying even more activists have been trying to set sail for the Gaza Strip, and on Tuesday Israel p

Viewpoints July 28, 2011

[Joel Brinkley] Palestinians sit out Arab Spring

[Susan Crawford] Cyberwar hysteria aids consultants, hurts U.S.

On Feb. 3, President Barack Obama and the entire West Wing lost access to e-mail for more than seven hours. A tree-trimmer had accidentally cut the lines running out of the White House data center. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer sent a bulletin via Twitter ― the only way he could get the news out, he said ― letting the world know that “Verizon is working to solve the problem.” A

Viewpoints July 28, 2011

[Editorial] Rain bombardment

Record downpours continued to bombard the central part of the nation for three consecutive days on Thursday, raising the death toll to 48. The “rain bombs” triggered landslides in Seoul, Chuncheon and Pocheon, killing more than 30 citizens. They also flooded thousands of houses and roads, leaving some 5,000 people homeless and causing traffic chaos and power outages.In Seoul, the precipitation bet

Editorial July 28, 2011

[Editorial] Investment banks

The Financial Supervisory Commission has renewed its attempt to create homegrown investment banks. On Wednesday the commission unveiled a draft bill that would allow brokerages with equity capital exceeding 3 trillion won to become investment banks. The commission plans to submit the legislation to the National Assembly in October for passage within this year. If approved as planned, the bill will

Editorial July 28, 2011

[Sri Mulyani Indrawati] Winning transition to democracy

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Is the Arab Spring turning into a gloomy autumn? With brutal crackdowns in Syria, a bloody civil war in Libya, and Yemen teetering on the brink of chaos, the number of skeptics is growing. Although Egypt and Tunisia’s pro-democracy movements achieved rapid regime change, uncertainties remain in those countries, too. After a brief period of hope, many observers now wonder whether

Viewpoints July 28, 2011

[Sri Mulyani Indrawati] Winning transition to democracy

[Richard Parker] The debt ceiling debacle: Buckle up, folks

Here we go again.The debt ceiling debacle that is unfolding in Washington is not about ideology and it’s not even about putting the nation’s fiscal house in order. It’s not even really about the American people. This is about appeasing just one group of people: the people on Wall Street. And before this is over, watch out for a Wall Street panic, which ultimately breaks the deadlock.So far, the St

Viewpoints July 28, 2011

[Albert R. Hunt] Debt fight is secondary to jobs in 2012 election

For all the frenzy in Washington on debt and deficits, President Barack Obama’s political strategists realize jobs are more important in next year’s elections; they see the two different scenarios. In one, voters conclude that while the incumbent is a nice fellow, the administration’s policies have failed, the economy isn’t getting better and whatever the reservations about the opposition, change

Viewpoints July 28, 2011

[Robert Reich] Rise of the wrecking-ball right

Recently I debated a conservative Republican who insisted the best way to revive the American economy was to shrink the size of government. When I asked him to explain his logic, he said, simply, “Government is the source of all our problems.” When I noted government spending had brought the economy out of the previous eight economic downturns, including the Great Depression, he disagreed. “The De

Viewpoints July 27, 2011

[Robert Reich] Rise of the wrecking-ball right

[Jeffrey Goldberg] Husain Haqqani, hardest working man in D.C.

Life for many members of Washington’s diplomatic corps is, one imagines, pretty much a picnic. For example, the ambassador from Barbados generally faces no career-threatening crises. Nor does the ambassador from Luxembourg. Others have trickier assignments. The ambassador from Yemen, Abdulwahab Abdulla al-Hajjri, can’t be having an easy time lately, especially since his brother-in-law is his count

Viewpoints July 27, 2011

[Robert J. Shiller] Debt and delusion about insolvency

NEW HAVEN ― Economists like to talk about thresholds that, if crossed, spell trouble. Usually there is an element of truth in what they say. But the public often overreacts to such talk.Consider, for example, the debt-to-GDP ratio, much in the news nowadays in Europe and the United States. It is sometimes said, almost in the same breath, that Greece’s debt equals 153 percent of its annual GDP, and

Viewpoints July 27, 2011

[Robert J. Shiller] Debt and delusion about insolvency

[Ron Paul] Default and take medicine now, or suffer a more expensive crisis later

Debate over the debt ceiling has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks, with each side trying to outdo the other in a game of political chicken. If you believe some of the things that are being written, the world will come to an end if the U.S. defaults on even the tiniest portion of its debt. In strict terms, the default being discussed will occur if the U.S. fails to meet its debt obligations, t

Viewpoints July 27, 2011

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