Australia has been called many things: Oz; the land Down Under; the lucky country. But the equivalent of a collateralized-debt obligation? Canberra can’t be happy to hear its AAA-rated economy likened to one of the reviled investment vehicles that blew up amid the 2008 global crisis. Yet the comparison is being made by some economists, who see the asset underlying Australia ― demand from China ― beginning to evaporate. No country is more vulnerable to the much-dreaded slowdown in China than reso

Viewpoints June 30, 2013

President Park Geun-hye, now on a four-day visit to China, had talks with her counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, which covered North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, regional security, bilateral economic ties and many other issues. Their agreements will undoubtedly serve as guidelines for South Korea’s relations with China during the next five years of her governance, if not longer. Her selection of Beijing over Tokyo as her second destination for summit diplomacy after Washington speaks volumes abou

Editorial June 28, 2013

It is not unusual for a university faculty member to curry favor with a political party or a political leader. He is willing to sell his academic expertise for his political ambition. He is rightly called a “polifessor,” a derogative term combining politician and professor.Some polifessors may play constructive roles in pursuit of their personal interests. For instance, they may provide political leaders and their parties with ingenious, yet sound advice in crafting policies.But many others do h

Editorial June 28, 2013

PARIS ― “A traitor is always useful,” a Russian security service friend said to me while discussing NSA contractor turned defector Edward Snowden’s arrival in his country.Snowden has fallen into the open arms of Mother Russia, where he was greeted at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport by a Russian security service contingent. The plan reportedly was for Snowden to pass through Russia en route to another country, after sharing America’s stolen secrets with Hong Kong authorities. As luck would have it,

Viewpoints June 28, 2013

The dispute over the transcript of the 2007 summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has taken a new turn as allegations surfaced that the document was illegally leaked to some ruling party lawmakers before the December presidential election.The allegations were first put forward by Rep. Park Beom-kye, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party. Park claimed that the Saenuri Party’s presidential campaign team had planned to use the controversial summit mi

Editorial June 27, 2013

The government has unveiled its economic management plan for the second half. As expected, it raised its economic growth forecast for this year to 2.7 percent from the 2.3 percent projected in March.The plan also forecasts the economy to add 300,000 new jobs this year, up from the previously projected 250,000 but much fewer than last year’s gain of 440,000. Consumer prices were forecast to rise 1.7 percent, slower than the previous projection of 2.3 percent, while current account surpluses were

Editorial June 27, 2013

The word “dignity” can’t be found in the Constitution, but in his majority opinion in U.S. v. Windsor, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy uses it no fewer than nine times (actually 10, if we include “indignity”). The foundation of the court’s opinion, and its real importance, lie in its insistence on human dignity as a constitutional value, one that stands at the heart of our longstanding commitment to equal protection of the laws. In Windsor, the court struck down a central provision of the

Viewpoints June 27, 2013

There will come a day when the U.S. Supreme Court decides that affirmative action is no longer constitutional. The question is whether that day comes before or after the rest of America decides that affirmative action is no longer necessary. All that’s certain is that neither day is today. In a 7-to-1 ruling, the court agreed that the University of Texas can consider race as a factor in admissions. A diverse student body, wrote Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, “is a constitutionally permissible goal.

Viewpoints June 26, 2013

Nicaragua’s $40 billion deal with a Chinese company to build a trans-oceanic waterway that will compete with the Panama Canal will either be Latin America’s most important economic project in more than a century or the biggest government scam in the region’s history.There are many reasons to think it may be the latter. The big question, however, is why reputable U.S. consulting firms ― including McKinsey, McLarty Associates and former Transparency International anti-corruption crusader Ronald Ma

Viewpoints June 26, 2013

Even as he condemned Edward Snowden’s leaks about two government surveillance programs, President Obama said he welcomed the debate about whether post-9/11 efforts to detect terrorist plots have undermined Americans’ privacy. That debate has raged since the Guardian and the Washington Post published material provided by Snowden, and two things are clear:― The American public and many members of Congress were unaware of the scope of the government’s electronic surveillance programs, which include

Viewpoints June 26, 2013