The Korea Herald

[Nouriel Roubini] Scary oil poses risk in global economy

Mar 18, 2012

NEW YORK ― Today’s fragile global economy faces many risks: the risk of another flare-up of the eurozone crisis; the risk of a worse-than-expected slowdown in China; and the risk that economic recovery in the United States will fizzle (yet again). But no risk is more serious than that posed by a further spike in oil prices.The price of a barrel of Brent crude, which was well below $100 in 2011, recently peaked at $125. Gasoline prices in the U.S. are approaching $4 a gallon, a damaging threshold
Lessons for NATO from Libya

Mar 16, 2012

NATO’s intervention in Libya one year ago helped to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and created the conditions for Libya’s citizens to end Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi’s dictatorship. The military operation highlighted important improvements in European leadership since the Bosnian debacle in the 1990s, but the conditions underlying the Libya mission’s success cannot be counted upon to exist again in the future. Indeed, NATO’s accomplishment in Libya risks obscuring persistent weaknesses in Europ
Online videos signal shift in accessibility of media

Mar 16, 2012

Ever since the popularization of the Internet, people have been forecasting the end of old media such as the printed newspaper. The popular analysis points to the fatal inadequacy of outdated technologies to collect and deliver content as well as to a changed advertisement revenue model that favours online media. The recent rapid successes of two videos, one locally and one globally, however, show that a true digital revolution in the media might stem less from a technological standpoint but fro
Nuclear power must be part of Japan’s future

Mar 16, 2012

The effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have made energy policy more important than ever.The government must utilize lessons from the nuclear crisis to improve the safety of nuclear reactors. It is an urgent task for the government to allow resumption of idle reactors after confirming their safety as part of its efforts to avert a power crisis.Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declared at a press conference on Su
[Chi Fulin] Better distribution of income

Mar 16, 2012

China should work out a comprehensive income distribution reform package as soon as possible to promote sustainable, fairer and more balanced development of its economy and society.The income distribution reform, one that is closely related with China’s overall social reform and development, is already receiving a great deal of attention. Whether or not some breakthroughs will be achieved in this area will produce decisive influences on the country’s consumption-based economic transformation, wh
Time to come up with a Plan C for Afghanistan

Mar 16, 2012

President Obama has long been criticized by Republicans for his purportedly inadequate zeal in pursuing the war in Afghanistan. He was criticized sharply from the right for his plan to draw down troops over three years; too fast, they said.So it’s ironic that Obama now finds himself defending that timetable against GOP critics who want to pull out more quickly in the wake of news that a U.S. soldier allegedly massacred at least 16 civilians.“We’re risking the lives of young men and women in a mi
Jakarta’s House of traitors

Mar 16, 2012

It is perhaps the loss of public faith in Indonesia’s House of Representatives that explains why the harder it seeks to boost its image, the more it disappoints its constituents. The House has gradually distanced itself from the public for whom it is supposed to fight and defend.The tall fence surrounding the House compound is merely evidence of a gap separating the elites inside and the masses outside to whom they are indebted, as without their votes the political bigwigs would never have accum
[David Ignatius] Rattling Iran’s weak power link

Mar 15, 2012

WASHINGTON ― At the end of another week of near-constant talk about war with Iran, here’s one counterintuitive possibility: The Obama administration, in its eagerness to deter an Israeli strike, has committed itself to a pressure campaign that, if pursued vigorously, could eventually lead to regime change in Iran. President Obama’s pledge of escalating economic, political and other pressure on Iran goes to that regime’s weak link. For the mullahs’ greatest vulnerability is their political struct
The double-edged health care debate in U.S.

Mar 15, 2012

There’s a seeming paradox in the way Americans view the health care law that President Barack Obamaand the Democrats passed two years ago this month.Most people tell pollsters they like the parts of the law that have gone into effect: health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, a clause that allows children to stay on their parents’ health plans until the age of 26 and discounts for prescription drugs on Medicare. And, as time goes by, Americans seem less worried that the law will
Iceland’s big trial is a travesty of justice

Mar 15, 2012

Everybody is polite and formal at the trial of former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde, which began last week inside a historic mansion in the capital, Reykjavik. Yet the atmosphere is tense, and the stakes are high. In the fall of 2010, a narrow majority in Iceland’s parliament decided to charge Haarde with criminal negligence before and during the collapse of all three major Icelandic banks in early October 2008. The trial is politically driven ― the vote to hold it fell largely along p
P.M. Netanyahu could be bluffing in Iran standoff

Mar 15, 2012

Whenever I’m in the Middle East, I find myself, sometimes within hours of arrival, more susceptible to the appeal of elaborate conspiracy theories. Perhaps it’s the air, or the (lack of) water, but what sounds outlandish in the U.S. doesn’t seem nearly so far-fetched here. I’m not referring to conspiracy theories drawn from the swamps of Sept. 11 delusion-mongering, or from the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” or, alternatively, from the “Protocols of the Lunatics Who Believe Barack Obama Is a
[Peter Singer] Fatter air passengers will have to be charged more

Mar 15, 2012

MELBOURNE ― We are getting fatter. In Australia, the United States, and many other countries, it has become commonplace to see people so fat that they waddle rather than walk. The rise in obesity is steepest in the developed world, but it is occurring in middle-income and poor countries as well.Is a person’s weight his or her own business? Should we simply become more accepting of diverse body shapes? I don’t think so. Obesity is an ethical issue, because an increase in weight by some imposes co
[David Ignatius] Rattling Iran’s weak power link

Mar 15, 2012

WASHINGTON ― At the end of another week of near-constant talk about war with Iran, here’s one counterintuitive possibility: The Obama administration, in its eagerness to deter an Israeli strike, has committed itself to a pressure campaign that, if pursued vigorously, could eventually lead to regime change in Iran. President Obama’s pledge of escalating economic, political and other pressure on Iran goes to that regime’s weak link. For the mullahs’ greatest vulnerability is their political struct
The double-edged health care debate in U.S.

Mar 15, 2012

There’s a seeming paradox in the way Americans view the health care law that President Barack Obamaand the Democrats passed two years ago this month.Most people tell pollsters they like the parts of the law that have gone into effect: health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, a clause that allows children to stay on their parents’ health plans until the age of 26 and discounts for prescription drugs on Medicare. And, as time goes by, Americans seem less worried that the law will
Portugal should follow Greece’s example

Mar 14, 2012

Greece has taken a big step toward getting the debt relief it needs to fix its economy and stay in the euro area. Now the question is whether other strapped countries that use the single currency should follow its lead. Despite the Greek deal’s flaws ― and they are many ― it offers a model that some other sovereigns will inevitably be tempted to experiment with, no matter how much European officials insist on Greece’s uniqueness. The legal precedent is set: By retroactively inserting so-called c