The Korea Herald

Euro bonds won’t cure what ails Europe

Sept 18, 2011

In recent weeks, euro bonds have gained traction in policy circles as the solution to the sovereign-debt crisis. The proposed debt could be structured in different ways, but in all cases it would imply joint and severally issued obligations by the members of the euro zone and would fundamentally cha
[Meghan Daum] Save the nation ― buy now

Sept 18, 2011

Remember the famous Stanford marshmallow study of 1972? It asked children at a campus nursery school to choose between eating a marshmallow (or a cookie or a pretzel, depending on their preference) right away or waiting while the researcher stepped out of the room for a period of time, at which poin
[Peter Singer] Can we increase happiness?

Sept 18, 2011

PRINCETON ― The small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is known internationally for two things: high visa fees, which reduce the influx of tourists, and its policy of promoting “gross national happiness” instead of economic growth. The two are related: more tourists might boost the economy, but they woul
[Jonathan Weil] European bank blowups hidden with shell games

Sept 16, 2011

The last time the world had a major banking crisis, fair-value accounting rules were near the top of the list of scapegoats most likely to be denounced by government and industry leaders. Not so this go-around. Today many of Europe’s largest financial institutions are seemingly on the brink again, d
[Robert Reich] Perry’s plan to help blue states

Sept 16, 2011

Of all the nonsense Texas Gov. Rick Perry spews about states’ rights and the 10th amendment, his dumbest is the notion that states should go it alone. “We’ve got a great Union,” he said at a Tea Party rally in Austin in April 2009. “There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington cont
Japan’s new trade chief must act on nuke issues

Sept 16, 2011

Former chief Cabinet secretary Yukio Edano was named economy, trade and industry minister Monday to succeed Yoshio Hachiro, who resigned over insensitive remarks and actions toward disaster-hit areas.Edano served as secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan and chief Cabinet secretary under
No end in sight 10 years on

Sept 16, 2011

Ten years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, people still remember the collapse of the two World Trade Center towers. But the world has changed in those 10 years. The 9/11 attacks have greatly changed the Middle East, the U.S. and even the world. But it’s hard to tell who has
Burma is not changing enough for recognition

Sept 16, 2011

The speech by Burmese Foreign Minister U Wunna Muang Lwin to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier this week was very impressive. He discussed at length the progress his country has been making since the new government under President Thein Sein was formed in March. He said Burma
[Frank Ching] As China rises, so does fear

Sept 16, 2011

The latest issue of Foreign Affairs magazine carries an article on the inevitability of China becoming the next superpower, one of a mounting cascade of articles on America’s decline and China’s rise. For many Chinese, it is high time for their country to regain its rightful place in the world,
[Editorial] Abandoning principle?

Sept 15, 2011

In his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Unification Minister-nominee Yu Woo-ik said he would exercise “flexibility in methodology” in relations with North Korea while maintaining a “principled approach” to them. In making this remark, did he mean to be deliberately ambiguous or did he have a probl
[Shahid Javed Burki] The war on terror is most costly for Pakistan

Sept 15, 2011

ISLAMABAD ― The 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States sent shock waves around the world from which Pakistan has still not recovered. Indeed, Pakistan’s participation in what former President George W. Bush called the “global war on terror” has produced overwhelmingly negative consequences, as
[Joel Brinkley] Durban III set for Islamophobia

Sept 15, 2011

Scores of states are meeting at the United Nations later this month for a hatefest that promises to be so odious that a dozen Western countries, including the United States, have already announced that they will not attend.It’s called Durban III, the third iteration of a conference first held in Sou
Boomers turn conservative as they grow old

Sept 15, 2011

Baby boomers who came of age during the social and political upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s tended to call themselves Democrats, and as time passed, that identification strengthened. In 1969, far more in the 18- to 29-year-old age cohort ― the front end of the baby boom ― called themselves Democra
[Trudy Rubin] War on terrorism a phantom

Sept 15, 2011

Did we win the war on terrorism?Ten years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is dead, and al-Qaida is fractured. There’s been no second attack (although intelligence chatter has picked up possible threats during anniversary commemorations).So people ask: Did we win?Not really. What we’ve won is hard knowle
[Park Sang-seek] Ideological polarization in capitalist democracies

Sept 15, 2011

After the cold war ended, the ideological conflict between East and West ended and the wind of democracy blew in the East and the South, but history has not ended. Instead, the North-South divide which had already emerged in the cold war period has become more serious and a new grand debate on the c