I guess it’s not surprising that nobody in Berlin got the joke Barack Obama told on his visit in 2008, when he pledged to a wildly cheering crowd that his election would mean a new era of “allies who will listen to each other.” True, the president’s sense of comic timing needs some fine-tuning: It took five years for him to deliver the punch line ― that he’d be doing his listening on an NSA tap of German Prime Minister Angela Merkel’s cell phone. But give him a break ― it took three seasons befo

Viewpoints Nov. 6, 2013

How did David defeat Goliath? According to the Bible, it was because God was on his side. But according to Malcolm Gladwell, it was largely because Goliath had a disorder known as acromegaly, a tumor on the pituitary gland.This disorder, identified in the late 19th century, manifests as gigantism, and it may affect vision. Gladwell lays out his case in his new book, “David and Goliath.” Acromegaly could account for Goliath’s unusual size, he writes, and the vision problems it can cause could exp

Viewpoints Nov. 6, 2013

One obvious way to address the shortage of primary medical care in the U.S. is to train more people who can provide it. Even if this could somehow happen overnight, though, it wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem: Only 1 in 4 medical-school graduates goes into primary care (the least lucrative area of medicine), and no more than half of nurses and physician assistants do.Just as important, those who do practice general medicine are rarely drawn to work in the rural and inner-city areas where p

Viewpoints Nov. 6, 2013

In shutting down the government, Congress reached a new level of dysfunction. While many pundits castigated individuals and parties, others more insightfully focused on institutional rules, such as the role of gerrymandering, closed primaries and campaign spending.Others went further. Comparative politics scholar Juan Linz famously demonstrated that presidential democracies are prone to dysfunction, which the United States has largely avoided by having big tent parties that are “diffuse” and all

Viewpoints Nov. 6, 2013

If you’re desperate for a child or desperate to be rid of one, the Internet is here to help. You can save time, avoid bureaucratic interference and escape the prying eyes of child welfare busybodies. Yes, it’s every bit as awful as it sounds. But it’s true.Illinois, we are told, has some of the strongest adoption laws in the nation. But those laws “are not enough to stem the horrible practice of ‘re-homing’ adopted children who are in perilous circumstances,” according to state Rep. Sara Feigenh

Viewpoints Nov. 5, 2013

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that Washington right now represents far and away the most significant drag on the economy’s growth. This seems obvious given Congress’ recent behavior, which produced to a 16-day government shutdown and threats to default on the nation’s debt.Yet it is also important to consider why Washington is such an impediment to growth. And if we think it through, the picture appears less bleak, and even surprisingly hopeful.Washington affects the economy most direct

Viewpoints Nov. 5, 2013

An obsession with nuclear power makes many political elites secretive, ruthless and delusional, even as their cherished projects threaten millions of people with disaster. But the egregious examples I have in mind here aren’t Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. They are Japan and India, two countries with democratic institutions.Last week in the south Indian city of Pondicherry, I met a friend who had managed to penetrate the security lockdown around Kudankulam, the Russian-built nuclear power stati

Viewpoints Nov. 5, 2013

The top policy priority for the Korean economy, either in the short term or the long term, is to support domestic demand, notably household income. That’s the advice that the International Monetary Fund has given to the Korean government after concluding its annual consultation last week.Overall, the IMF has given a positive assessment of the Korean economy. It said Korea had fared well in the summer’s financial market turmoil, which was triggered by the U.S. Fed’s move to start tapering its sti

Editorial Nov. 4, 2013

The government has taken a first step toward tackling the thorny problem of dealing with spent nuclear fuel rods by launching a private commission tasked with raising awareness and understanding of the inflammatory issue.The 15-member panel will conduct a series of public forums to allow citizens to discuss how and where to store spent fuel rods. Based on the views expressed at these meetings, it will present policy recommendations to the government by the end of next year.Currently, spent fuel

Editorial Nov. 4, 2013

WASHINGTON ― Several years ago, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, an in-house think tank for the intelligence community, launched what is known as the “Good Judgment Project.” The idea is to test through forecasting competitions the factors that lead analysts to make good predictions. One of the most interesting findings, according to a participant in the project, is that forecasting accuracy doesn’t necessarily improve when analysts have access to highly classified signals i

Viewpoints Nov. 4, 2013

RIYADH ― No issue in the world today is of greater immediate importance than the need to end the civil war in Syria. The past two and a half years have been a disaster for peace, stability, and our sense of common humanity. Gut-wrenching images of unspeakable, indiscriminate violence against civilians have shocked the world. According to the latest United Nations estimates, more than 100,000 Syrians, including many children, have lost their lives as a result of the criminal behavior of Bashar al

Viewpoints Nov. 4, 2013