The Russian presidential election is such a formality that President Vladimir Putin won’t even be filmed for his own TV spots. One thing, though, Putin is keen to ensure before the election: that Russians’ real disposable incomes as measured by official statistics don’t decline. So the State Statistical Service has made sure of it.On Monday, the government agency reported that in January, the disposable income measure was unchanged from January 2017. To produce that result, it had to disregard a

Moviegoers have been going crazy over “Black Panther,” the new Marvel comic book superhero film. In addition to being a fun romp, the movie holds special emotional significance for many -- not just because of its mostly black cast, but because of its setting, Wakanda. A fictional country located somewhere in Africa, Wakanda avoided colonization by foreign powers, and is now wealthy and highly developed. That image speaks powerfully to many in the global African diaspora, and to many Africans as

What are the limits of inequality? In a world with virtual reality, history might be an unreliable guide.　Time was you could imagine a peasant revolt: If the poorest were starving, they wouldn’t wait around patiently for political change. Riots would disrupt the status quo. If things were really bad, the army might join in. Self-preservation would then compel elites to respond by redistributing wealth, rather than continuing to hoard resources. For a while, society would be more equal.　In the de

The PyeongChang Winter Olympics came to a close Sunday after 17 days of memorable competitions among the world’s top athletes. As a sporting event, the quadrennial games were successful in many respects. Most of all, the PyeongChang Olympics -- the largest-ever Winter Games that drew 2,920 participants from 92 countries -- proceeded without any big hitch, except an outbreak of a stomach virus.The organizers made sure there was no major mishap in the operation of events for 15 sports that were st

It is not rare for the National Assembly to defy important deadlines -- like the one for endorsing a new state budget. It does not, however, lessen our frustration with its failure -- yet again -- to finalize the electoral map in time for the June 13 local elections. The National Assembly had been deadlocked for two weeks due to partisan strife stemming from the implication of Rep. Kwon Sung-dong, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, in a scandal in which influential people solic

How do you like your cup of cancer in the morning? I take mine with fake sugar and skim milk. Lame, I know. But there’s no accounting for taste in carcinogens. Or, in this case, coffee.　You’ve probably seen the bemused headlines: “Coffee in California may soon come with a spoonful of cancer warnings.” There’s wacky California, doing its liberalism-through-regulation schtick again.　At issue is a lawsuit brought by the Council for Education and Research on Toxics against coffee purveyors such as S