The Korea Herald

안녕하세요 Yu Kun-ha 기자입니다.

Articles by Yu Kun-ha

[J. Bradford DeLong] The right tax rate for the rich

ViewpointsDec 5, 2011

BERKELEY ― Via a circuitous Internet chain ― Paul Krugman of Princeton University quoting Mark Thoma of the University of Oregon reading the Journal of Economic Perspectives ― I got a copy of an article written by Emmanuel Saez, whose office is 50 feet from mine, on the same corridor, and the Nobel laureate economist Peter Diamond. Saez and Diamond argue that the right marginal tax rate for North Atlantic societies to impose on their richest citizens is 70 percent.It is an arresting assertion, g
Cost of educational zeal more than just money

ViewpointsDec 4, 2011

“Mom, I really want to go to the costume play this weekend, you know I am really, really into it. Until now I hung around just watching the festival but this is my first time ever joining it. I’ve bought everything for that day, a violet wig, pink dress, kill-heels. Mom, can I go? Please...”“No.”Last week when I caught a glimpse of the evening news, I instantly froze on the spot. The anchor told a story about a murder case, which may be something that we are usually immune to, but it hit home in
Bright prospects for Korea-India relations

ViewpointsDec 4, 2011

A recent trip to New Delhi and Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) for a meeting of the executive committee of the World Federation of U.N. Associations served as a reminder to me that India is developing at a breathtaking pace economically, politically, and socially, and is becoming one of the most influential powers in the world. Its economy is growing at more than 7 percent annually; it has an advanced IT sector, a long cultural history and democratic strength. That development has been reflected in
[Editorial] Emissions trade bill

EditorialDec 2, 2011

Many important bills are gathering dust at the National Assembly as rival parties are still locked in a stand-off following the unilateral passage by the ruling Grand National Party of the Korea-U.S. free trade bill on Nov. 22. The emissions trade bill submitted by the government in April is one of them.The legislation aims to launch a greenhouse gas emissions trading system in 2015 to stimulate corporate efforts for emissions reduction. In 2009, the Korean government voluntarily declared it wou
[Editorial] Priority on fiscal health

EditorialDec 2, 2011

In his Aug. 15 Liberation Day speech, President Lee Myung-bak pledged to achieve a balanced budget during his term, which ends in February 2013. Following Lee’s pledge, officials of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance moved forward the target year for budget balance to 2013 from 2014.In drawing up the 2012 budget bill, they put priority on strengthening fiscal health. The bill proposes 5.5 percent growth in spending, a modest increase compared with the expected 9.5 percent growth in revenue.Und
U.S. should mend ties with Pakistan

ViewpointsDec 2, 2011

The latest friendly fire incident in Pakistan has plunged the already strained relationship between the United States and Pakistan to a new low. The feud between the United States and Pakistan over the U.S.-led NATO cross-border air strikes that killed at least 24 Pakistani troops on Sunday, should prompt Washington to reflect upon its relationship with Islamabad and its anti-terror strategy in South Asia. While the U.S. has offered its condolences to Pakistan and the families of those killed, t
Big emitters should join a new, post-Kyoto pact

ViewpointsDec 2, 2011

What kind of greenhouse gas emissions rules should be made after the Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of 2012?The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opened in South Africa on Monday.The Kyoto Protocol is a set of international rules that is riddled with defects, as it obliges only advanced nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Japanese government needs to maintain its stance of opposing extension of the protocol.Emerging na
Welfare recipients hit new high in Japan

ViewpointsDec 2, 2011

The health and welfare ministry announced on Nov. 9 that the number of people on welfare receiving livelihood assistance known as seikatsu hogo (literally livelihood protection) reached 2,050,495 nationwide as of July 2011, topping the monthly average record of 2,046,646 marked in fiscal 1951, when Japan was in the midst of postwar social and economic confusion. Behind this is an increase in the number of elderly people and prolonging economic stagnation.Especially worrisome is the fact that the
[Jeffrey D. Sachs] Promoting services without tears

ViewpointsDec 1, 2011

NEW YORK ― A famous claim in economics is that the cost of services (such as health care and education) tends to increase relative to the cost of goods (such as food, oil, and machinery). This seems right: people around the world can barely afford the rising health-care and school-tuition costs they currently face ― costs that seem to increase each year faster than overall inflation. But a sharp decline in the costs of health care, education, and other services is now possible, thanks to the ong
U.S. subsidies stymie wind, solar innovation

ViewpointsDec 1, 2011

This month, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched a formal investigation into complaints, lodged by the U.S. solar-cell manufacturers, that the government of China is funneling loan guarantees, grants and subsidies to its solar-cell companies. Apparently, the Commerce Department is shocked, shocked to learn that a government would subsidize the solar industry. A few days later, the New York Times described a “gold rush” under way in the U.S. as builders of wind and solar farms cash in on gran
NATO strike can’t lead to breach with Pakistan

ViewpointsDec 1, 2011

When NATO aircraft killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in a strike near the Afghan border on Nov. 25, U.S. press reports called it a case of “friendly fire.” That seems the wrong term. It has been some years since the U.S. and Pakistan could be accurately described as friends. The U.S. and Pakistan have a handful of common goals but far more that conflict. The U.S. wants to fight all forces opposed to Afghanistan’s government; Pakistan nurtures remnants of the Haqqani Network and the Afghanistan Taliba
[Robert Shiller] The neuroeconomics revolution

ViewpointsDec 1, 2011

NEW HAVEN ― Economics is at the start of a revolution that is traceable to an unexpected source: medical schools and their research facilities. Neuroscience ― the science of how the brain, that physical organ inside one’s head, really works ― is beginning to change the way we think about how people make decisions. These findings will inevitably change the way we think about how economies function. In short, we are at the dawn of “neuroeconomics.”Efforts to link neuroscience to economics have occ
[Editorial] Short cut on inflation

EditorialNov 30, 2011

The government has found an easy way to curb inflation ― to change the way of calculating the consumer price index.Statistics Korea said Tuesday that it had updated the composition and weights of the goods and services used to produce the CPI, a job it does once every five years to ensure that the key measure of inflation reflects price trends more accurately.The change magically brought down the nation’s CPI rise in the first 10 months of the year by 0.4 percentage points. Before the revision,
For better government, don’t kill all the lawyers

ViewpointsNov 30, 2011

Most everyone hates lawyers. So it probably isn’t a surprise that many people hate law professors, too. A recent front-page article in the New York Times, much discussed in legal circles, was the latest salvo in what is now a long line of attacks depicting the legal academy as impractical and unworldly. I think the dislike, though, is a result of law professors being too much in the world. You see, law professors ― and I should disclose here that I am one ― very nearly run the world, or at least
ROK Air Force’s role in limited, localized conflicts

ViewpointsNov 30, 2011

So far, an all-out war launched by North Korea has been the major conflict scenario that all kinds of operational plans by the Republic of Korea and the United States have been based upon. The structure and development of South Korean forces were organized in accordance with this assumption. There has been an implicit agreement that Seoul provides massive ground forces to defend its metropolitan areas, while Washington provides high-tech support from its navy and air force to its labor-intensive