They say timing is everything, and that surely was the case when Larry Summers took his name out of the running as Federal Reserve chairman. Even if unintended, his withdrawal came on the five-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy, and just a few days before the central bank is expected to begin to pull back from the most unconventional ― and controversial ― of its emergency measures. The timing serves as a useful reminder that the next Fed chairman should expect an econ

Say you are a Shanghai-based economist and doubt the veracity of China’s latest trade data. You put out a research report to that effect, one that creates buzz on the Internet and exposes you to something far worse than making a bad call: prison.Or say you are a photographer in Chongqing and circulate images of a politician who loves Rolexes. Bloggers begin buzzing about how a modestly compensated public official could afford a stable of $7,000 watches. You, too, may end up in handcuffs.What if

NEW DELHI ― In recent weeks, India’s parliament, often justifiably derided for the frequent disruptions that mar its work, has surprised its detractors by passing two crucial pieces of legislation that could transform the lives of hundreds of millions of people.The first, the Food Security Act, grants 67 percent of India’s population a right to 35 kilograms of rice or wheat for 3 rupees (less than 5 cents) per kilo. Together with related provisions that would provide meals to infants and expecta

Sept. 7, 2013 marked the first major, public wedding ceremony in South Korea for a gay couple. Film director and producer Kimjo Gwang-soo, 48, and long-time partner and film distributor Kim Seung-hwan, 28, were married near Cheonggye Stream with about 1,000 guests in attendance. The wedding was briefly interrupted when a 54-year-old man claiming to be a church elder went up on the stage, sprayed filth from a food container, and shouted, “Homosexuality is a sin. Homosexuality destroys families an

The coal industry is warning that proposed federal regulations on new coal-fired power plants will effectively ban their construction. To which there are at least three rational responses: First, what new plants? Second, probably not forever. Third, that might not be a bad thing. On Sept. 20, the Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to release a proposed rule that would cap the amount of carbon dioxide new power plants can emit. To meet that limit ― said to be lower than what existing ge

Emissions trading in Korea has been a long discussed agenda and now it is almost at the final stage of policy preparation. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance report, Korea is the fastest emission growing nation among OECD member states and it is now the seventh-largest greenhouse gas emitter. With a target of reducing emissions from business-as-usual scenarios by 2020, the government is implementing various measures, including a domestic emissions trading system from Jan. 1, 2015. In 2010

The archives of the Saemaul Undong (or New Community Movement) in the 1970s, which have recorded the course of Korea’s modernization, were added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register some months ago. It is the result of the international agency’s high evaluation that the movement is a successful case of the private-public cooperation as a nation development model. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has credited the Saemaul Undong as the modernization campaign

The Syrian conflict is far from resolved, but with Russia finally stepping in and offering to broker a solution ― something this column has long recommended ― a stand-down now seems increasingly likely. As the world now mulls Russia’s proposal for Syria to place its chemical arsenal under international control, what have we really learned so far?― We’re living in a multipolar world where America is no longer required to take every shot. There’s nothing wrong with passing the ball once in a while

In his White House address last night, President Barack Obama laid out a clear case to Americans for upholding the international taboo against the use of chemical weapons in Syria. He had the right argument ― just the wrong audience.Obama is no longer asking the U.S. Congress for an immediate vote to support missile strikes against Syria, in retaliation for the Aug. 21 sarin-gas attack that killed more than 1,400 civilians near Damascus. Now, the people who face an imminent choice on Syria don’t