Long and variable lags. That’s all I could think of when I read the Federal Reserve statement and learned that economic conditions “are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014.” My first instinct was to mark the date on my household calendar, but I couldn’t find one that goes out that far! What the Fed is saying, in essence, is that as the economy improves, it’s appropriate to provide as much stimulus, or support, as it did in late 2008, w

CAIRO ― Last year’s events in Egypt and Tunisia drew the curtain on a tottering old order and delivered much of the Arab world into a long-awaited new era. But what that new era will look like remains very much an open question, given the many challenges that the region’s countries still face.The old order that has begun to vanish extends beyond the former regimes. The region’s entire value system ― a political culture forged by autocracy ― is being transformed. Arab men and women have shed the

As Egypt marked the first anniversary of the Jan. 25 civilian revolt that eventually toppled the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, there was no agreement -- on how to celebrate or even whether rejoicing is in order.The current military rulers -- the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF -- wanted to hold parades and aerial jet exhibitions to exult in the revolution, of which their main part was to ease Mubarak out of power. Youth groups and democracy activists who originally engineered the u

KABUL ― Recently, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) office in Kudoz province reported the rescue of a young woman who had been imprisoned in her in-laws’ dungeon for seven months. Fifteen-year-old Sahar Gul was forced to marry an older man who serves in the Afghan army. She was then kept in the dungeon by her husband’s family and brutally tortured for months, because she refused to work as a prostitute.Over the past 10 years, the AIHRC has received more than 19,000 complaint

There seem to be as many political solutions to education problems in South Korea as there are people thinking about them. Thus, there is endless controversy about which policies should be implemented. A major reason for the controversy is the biggest difference between political and market-based polices: In politics, a situation that captures public attention is seen a problem or crisis; in the market, such situations are seen as opportunities.Some of the world’s greatest, boldest and most aggr

Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, isn’t often taken publicly to task. But when you make S$3.1 million ($2.4 million) annually to run a country, people tend to expect results. When they don’t get them, the aggrieved masses turn to that lowest-of-common-denominator gripes: Hey, how much are we paying this guy? Lots compared with, say, Barack Obama, who as U.S. president gets $400,000 a year. Lee’s compensation will fall 36 percent, and that of Singapore’s president will drop 51 percent,

It’s a rare economic story that involves Facebook Inc., God and credit ratings. Leave it to Indonesia to serve up a saga that speaks volumes about the obstacles facing Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. Although Indonesia doesn’t often make global headlines, one event last week should have received more ink: Moody’s Investors Service returned the country to investment grade for the first time since the Asian financial crisis. It was an overdue recognition of how far Indonesia has progressed in th

As disturbing as the controversy over why Salman Rushdie was misled into believing that his life, and the literature festival, would be endangered if he turned up at Jaipur is the manner in which the home ministry opted out of taking the lead role in a security-related situation. It may be technically correct that law and order is a state subject, but when the larger issue of the nation’s global prestige is at stake, and when more than one state government is involved (Maharashtra and Rajasthan