The Korea Herald

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] America’s hope against hope

Dec 16, 2012

NEW YORK ― After a hard-fought election campaign, costing well in excess of $2 billion, it seems to many observers that not much has changed in American politics: Barack Obama is still president, the Republicans still control the House of Representatives, and the Democrats still have a majority in the Senate. With America facing a “fiscal cliff” ― automatic tax increases and spending cuts at the start of 2013 that will most likely drive the economy into recession unless bipartisan agreement on a
Whites to lose U.S. majority by 2043

Dec 16, 2012

LOS ANGELES ― Whites will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2043 as the United States will for the first time become a majority of minority groups, the Census Bureau projects.In its first set of projections based on 2010 Census, officials said the U.S. population will be considerably older and more racially and ethnically diverse by 2060. The nation is also expected to grow at a slower pace in coming decades. The nation’s population, about 315 million in September, is expected to cros
Michigan’s anti-union law breaks hearts and backs

Dec 16, 2012

Michigan’s new right-to-work law, this nation’s 24th, is ostensibly all about freedom. Proponents such as Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, say it simply gives workers the right to decide, solo, whether to pay union dues ― freedom of choice. That’s a pretty American idea, isn’t it? Never mind one obvious retort: Paying for union services only when you need them is like paying taxes for police and fire services only if you use them. We pay taxes to ensure that if we call 911, someone well trained sh
N. Korea remains defiant

Dec 16, 2012

North Korea on Wednesday morning launched a long-range multistage rocket and claims to have put a satellite into orbit. In a preliminary assessment, the United States also said that an object carried by the rocket went into orbit. Pyongyang’s action must be condemned in the strongest terms. It ignored repeated calls by the international community to cancel the launch, the second this year following an attempt on April 13. At that time, the U.N. Security Council issued a presidential statement co
Israel suffers diplomatic setback at the U.N.

Dec 16, 2012

The U.N. General Assembly resolution admitting Palestine as a “non-member observer State” was a blow to Israel, which had been adamantly opposed to it. The resolution won support from 138 countries, among them France and Italy, great friends of Israel. Germany, which, for known historical reasons, supports Israel with conviction, chose to be one of the 41 countries that abstained.Only eight countries sided with Israel in opposing the resolution: The United States, Canada, the Czech Republic and
[David Miliband] The law of the sea’s next wave

Dec 16, 2012

LONDON ― Thirty years ago, the Cold War was at its height and the United Kingdom had just clawed its way out of recession. Perhaps those factors explain why, this week in 1982, when 119 government delegations chose to sign the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the U.K. was not among them. According to Donald Rumsfeld, Britain’s then-prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, declared UNCLOS to be “nothing less than the international nationalization of roughly two-thirds of the Ea
Flawed constitution likely to be approved in Egypt

Dec 14, 2012

A vote by millions of Egyptians on a new constitution should have been an occasion for national celebration. But overreaching by Islamists, including the country’s president, has made the referendum that begins Saturday a source of division. Even if the document is approved, President Mohamed Morsi will need to reach out to Egyptians ― including Christians, secularists and women ― who feel they have been excluded from a revolution they helped create. Yes, Morsi was legitimately elected, but that
[Robert Cooper] Europe’s eyes on the prize

Dec 14, 2012

LONDON ― Institutions are not lovable. They are rule-bound and dull; they have routines, committees, agendas, budgets ― and rows about budgets. If they are successful, they go on forever.Prizes are for heroes. Like heroes, prizes blaze and are gone. Prizes belong to those who make great discoveries, write great poems, or discover new ways of living ― to the bringers of new things. Institutions are dull ― that is their purpose ― but those who found them may also be creators, even heroes.There is
[Klaus Schwab] Nothing to fear but fear itself

Dec 13, 2012

The eurozone will not break up. The price of departure is simply too great for any one country. Indeed, when Mario Draghi announced on Sept. 6 that the European Central Bank would undertake unlimited purchases of government bonds, the continent crossed the bridge to its future.Europe’s leaders must see that the drawbridge has been lifted behind them. They cannot back out of this, and thus must steel themselves for the journey ahead. Moreover, they must also realize that for the European project
Full Monti unlikely to help Italian voters

Dec 13, 2012

The weekend announcement by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti that he will resign triggered a rush to sell off Italian debt and stocks, as investors blanched at the uncertainty that will follow the departure of “Super Mario.” Not surprisingly, many investors and Italian business leaders say they would like to see Monti run in the elections that his departure will force, probably in February. That way he could reclaim his job next year, this time with a mandate from Italian voters. Ferrari SpA C
All at sea over China’s intent

Dec 13, 2012

Moves advanced by rival claimants in South China Sea disputes have taken on a harder edge, topped off by China saying it would interdict ships found in its waters. This is happening in spite of calls for calm by ASEAN, as a bloc with an interest in the matter, and the United States, as a Pacific maritime power. Even a peripheral participant like India, which happens to have energy prospecting activity off the Vietnam coast, has implied it would dispatch its navy to protect its interests if it ha
10 days before the world ends, so what will we do?

Dec 13, 2012

There are less than 10 days left for you to celebrate the upcoming holiday season ― if you believe in the Mayan prophecy of the apocalypse. On Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, we might experience the end of days, like John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Amanda Peet, who barely escaped the “heightened change in the elements” in Roland Emmerich’s epic 2012. Yet, we shouldn’t rush to any conclusions. Hiding in the mountains may not be the best move, for such predictions are mostly opportunistic.If you type “20
Japan’s parties must confront debt problem

Dec 13, 2012

What can be done to rebuild the nation’s finances, which are the worst among advanced nations? Financial reconstruction is an issue that will heavily influence Japan’s future.However, there has not been very much debate on the issue in the campaigning for the Dec. 16 general election. Parties must show their resolve in dealing with this problem.Japan’s finances are facing a critical situation. Tax revenues have been continuing to decrease due to the prolonged economic downturn following the burs
[Amando Doronila] Gunboat diplomacy on horizon

Dec 13, 2012

The past four weeks saw the swiftest escalation in recent years of tensions over the territorial disputes between China and its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific.The tensions spiraled in late November when the province of Hainan, in the southern coastal region of China, issued an imperial-sounding edict that its so-called lawmaking body had authorized its police patrol boats to board and search foreign ships of any nationality that illegally enter what it considers Chinese territories in the South C
The Supreme Court’s chance to make history

Dec 12, 2012

The question before the U.S. Supreme Court is not whether to allow same-sex marriage, but how. That should be the question, anyway. Last week the court agreed to hear two cases involving the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. Theodore Olson, one of the lawyers for proponents of same-sex marriage, called it “perhaps the most important remaining civil-rights issue of our time.” He is undoubtedly right about that. What the court must do is find a way to encourage the movement’s progress withou