The Korea Herald

America’s election and the global economy

Oct 7, 2012

STANFORD ― As America’s elections approach, with President Barack Obama slightly in front of his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, pollsters still rate the races for control of the presidency and the United States Senate too close to call, with the House of Representatives likely to remain in Republican hands. The differences between the candidates are considerable, and highly consequential for American economic policy and the global economy, although enactment of
Why should regulators have to listen to you?

Oct 7, 2012

The U.S. Bill of Rights declares that no one may be deprived of life, liberty or property “without due process of law.” The core meaning of this provision is that the government cannot hurt you ― by taking away your freedom or what you own ― without giving you an opportunity to have your say. This right helps to define liberty under law. Public officials are fallible, and before they take action against you, they should hear you out to make sure that they have the facts straight. Human beings sh
[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Gamble on U.S. fiscal reform doomed to fail

Oct 7, 2012

NEWPORT BEACH ― It sounded like a really clever idea: Use a very public and sizeable threat to get bickering politicians to collaborate and compromise. Well, it has not worked so far, and the already-sizeable stakes just got bigger.No, I am not talking here about Europe’s debt crisis, decisive resolution of which still requires greater cooperation and shared responsibility, both within individual eurozone member states and between creditor and debtor countries. I am referring to the complex fisc
Swimming against global tide on reproductive rights

Oct 5, 2012

Costa Rican women are appealing to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to overturn a national law banning in-vitro fertilization.The state’s national ombudsman, Ofelia Taitelbaum, started the process, saying “people will understand that this is about rights” that are appropriate for “our times.”In the worldwide debate over abortion and women’s rights, this might seem like an unusual law. After all, in-vitro fertilization actually creates life. But Costa Rica is heavily Catholic; more than 7
[J. Bradford DeLong] Stage three for the euro crisis?

Oct 5, 2012

BERKELEY ― The first two components of the euro crisis ― a banking crisis that resulted from excessive leverage in both the public and private sectors, followed by a sharp fall in confidence in eurozone governments ― have been addressed successfully, or at least partly so. But that leaves the third, longest-term, and most dangerous factor underlying the crisis: the structural imbalance between the eurozone’s north and south.First, the good news: The fear that Europe’s banks could collapse, with
What if we’re wrong in measuring Iran?

Oct 4, 2012

As the U.S. contemplates whether to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, intelligence community leaders should be asking themselves a question: What if we’re wrong?That question wasn’t asked ― or at least wasn’t answered ― in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war, with devastating consequences. Before giving up on containment or deterrence polices and undertaking a “preventive war” against a nation that has not attacked the United States, we should be as certain as possible of the evidence.Iran today pre
[Lee Byong-chul] A nuclear-armed S. Korea?

Oct 4, 2012

South Korean officials have recently realized that the United States is likely to try to forbid them from enriching uranium and expanding their country’s missile range, rather than leave these issues on the diplomatic back burner. Indeed, recent discreet talks, in which the U.S. has disregarded South Korean efforts to supplement the controversial U.S.-South Korea Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, which expires in March 2014, suggest that there are reasons to be deeply worried about the alliance’s f
Rethink Osprey deployment

Oct 4, 2012

Six of the 12 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft stationed at U.S. Marine Corps’ Air Station Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, were deployed at Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture on Monday, and three more Osprey aircraft flew from Iwakuni to Futenma on Tuesday amid Okinawans’ concerns about the aircraft’s safety and protests against its deployment in their prefecture. Eventually all 12 Osprey aircraft are expected to be stationed at Futenma.The Japanese and U.S. governments should not make
Other firms must learn from Sharp’s setback

Oct 4, 2012

Even a company with cutting-edge technology and a strong brand will founder if it makes a mistake in the selection and concentration of its business. The setback of Sharp Corp., dubbed a giant of liquid crystal display panels, is a warning for the Japanese manufacturing industry.Amid a financial crisis, Sharp has compiled a rehabilitation plan centering on cutting more than 10,000 jobs and selling its television factories abroad. Highly evaluating the plan, Sharp’s main financing banks have deci
Taiwan an export powerhouse of fraudsters

Oct 4, 2012

Long before the recent brouhaha over “Taiwanese laborers” in Australia, Taiwan has been the export powerhouse of fraudsters to the mainland and Southeast Asia. On Sept. 18, the Philippines deported 279 Taiwanese arrested in the country’s biggest crackdown on online fraud. They were accused of impersonating police, prosecutors and bank officials to convince victims in China and Taiwan to transfer money into accounts provided by the syndicate, the Associated Press reported.In an analysis published
[Andrew Sheng] Should Germany exit eurozone?

Oct 4, 2012

As we enter the fourth quarter of 2012, two influential commentators have questioned whether Germany should exit the eurozone. Earlier this month, George Soros argued that Germany must either lead or leave the eurozone. This week, Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf also considered the question and argued that Germany will have to pay a high price for her mercantilist policies. The fact that German Chancellor Merkel has come out openly to overrule the Bundesbank president on commitments to the
Dealing with China’s growing maritime power

Oct 3, 2012

With tensions rising from competing maritime claims in the East and South China seas, it is not the most tranquil moment for China to launch its first aircraft carrier. Yet countries in the region and beyond should see this as an inevitable milestone in China’s military modernisation.It has taken years to refit the rusting hulk of a Soviet-era Ukrainian vessel into the 300m-long Liaoning. It will take even more years for the warship to become fully operational with an air wing of fighters, proba
[Kim Myong-sik] Honesty best policy, platform

Oct 3, 2012

On Dec. 19, Korean voters will choose one from among the three major candidates ― Park Geun-hye, Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo (by the traditional media order). There can be an eventual two-way competition supposing either Moon or Ahn making a last-minute exit, and the field looks extremely hazy at this moment with nearly even possibilities of Park-Moon, Park-Ahn and Park-Moon-Ahn ballots. The campaign headquarters of the three are releasing many known and unknown names mostly from academia as s
[Ban Ki-moon] A call to ambition to meet today’s challenges

Oct 3, 2012

Each year at this time, leaders gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to assess the state of the world. This year, I used the occasion to sound the alarm about our direction as a human family.We are living through a period of profound turmoil, transition and transformation. Insecurity, inequality and intolerance are spreading. Governments are wasting vast and precious funds on deadly weapons while reducing investments in people. Too many people in power seem willfully blind to the th
[Meghan Daum] Jesse Ventura, ‘the Body’ politic

Oct 3, 2012

Don’t deny it: This presidential race, for all its minor dust-ups, has mostly been a snore, a bloodless standoff between two men who, despite their differences, are both essentially uptight squares whose wives are forever trumpeting how poor they used to be. Thank goodness, then, for the blast of fresh air that is Jesse “the Body” Ventura.Well, maybe it’s not that fresh. Ventura isn’t a new face on the political stage. In 1990, the Navy SEAL-turned professional wrestler ran for governor of Minne