COMMENTARIES
COMMENTARIES
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How to Save the Euro
Daniel Gros Series: European Economies 2010-03-12The euro zone was created on two assumptions: member countries would adhere to strict deficit and debt limits, and those who violated the limits would not be bailed out. Now that the Greek crisis has proved both assumptions invalid, the only hope for imposing market discipline throughout the euro zone is the creation of a European Monetary Fund.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 1 Read: 513
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Japan’s Financial Truant
Yuriko Koike Series: Asia Watch 
2010-03-12
Last year, Japanese voters chose the Democratic Party of Japan in order to change the country. Instead, they have mostly seen the same old political scandals - and, worse, the same inaction on restoring the country's fiscal and economic health.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 492
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Cars, Bombs, and Climate Change
Bjørn Lomborg Series: Global Warning
2010-03-12Why are we willing to calculate costs and benefits when it comes to addressing traffic safety and terrorism, but not when devising policies to deal with climate change? A constructive dialogue about the smartest policy responses to global warming requires replacing our fixation on far-fetched, Armageddon scenarios with realism about the true costs of confronting this challenge.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 1018
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A Crisis of Understanding
Robert J. Shiller Series: Finance in the 21st Century 2010-03-12
Few economists predicted the current economic crisis, and there is little agreement among them about its ultimate causes. So, not surprisingly, they are not in a good position to forecast how quickly it will end, either.... read Comments: 2 Recommended: 0 Read: 1180
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Re-Repairing Bosnia
Morton Abramowitz and James Hooper Series: Europe at Home and Abroad 2010-03-11The Dayton Accords of 1995 ended Serb-instigated ethnic cleansing and established peace in Bosnia, but failed to create a functional Bosnian central government with the capacity to undertake the reforms needed to meet the terms of accession to the EU. Unless the EU acts quickly to fix what Dayton left broken, it could find itself bordering a failed state with a Muslim plurality.... read Comments: 7 Recommended: 0 Read: 599
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An Indirect Route to a Palestinian State?
Daoud Kuttab Series: The World in Words 2010-03-11
The indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks now being launched are unlikely to produce any tangible result on the borders of the Palestinian state. Nevertheless, for both sides, the process can be as important as the results.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 538
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The End of an Era in Finance
Dani Rodrik Series: Roads to Prosperity
2010-03-11On February 19, the IMF published a policy note that reversed its long-held position on capital controls and effectively ended the era of border-free global finance. Taxes and other restrictions on capital inflows, the IMF’s economists wrote, can be helpful, and they constitute a “legitimate part” of policymakers’ toolkit.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 3000
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China’s Bad Bet Against America
Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right
2010-03-10
Chinese-American relations are, once again, in a downswing, in part because of China's overconfidence in foreign policy, combined with insecurity in domestic affairs. This is represents a serious miscalculation on China's part, one that previous generations of Chinese leaders would never have allowed to occur.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 2611
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Catalyzing Consumption and Balancing Growth
Anoop Singh Series: The Asian Century 2010-03-09China has weathered the Great Recession well. But the world now waits to see if China can sustain last year’s impressive domestic demand, and if the government can put household consumption front and center in the country's growth model.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 1211
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The Dutch Retreat
Ian Buruma Series: Crossing Cultures
2010-03-08
The Netherlands' recent decision to withdraw its forces from NATO operations in Afghanistan reflects more than mere domestic frustration that no partner country was willing to relieve Dutch troops, as promised. A military alliance without a clear common enemy, or a clear goal, becomes almost impossible to maintain. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 1481
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A Reset in the Caucasus
Vartan Oskanian Series: The World in Words 2010-03-08This is Turkey’s moment of truth. Will the current domestic turmoil between Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdoğan and the country’s powerful army complicate and delay the country’s boldest diplomatic initiatives in years – the moves to address decades-old tensions with both Armenians and Kurds?... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 1316
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Free Tilly – and all Circus Animals
Peter Singer Series: The Ethics of Life
2010-03-08
Last month, at the Sea World amusement park in Florida, a whale grabbed a trainer, pulled her underwater, and thrashed about with her until she was dead. The death is a tragedy, but there is no excuse for keeping wild animals in amusement parks or circuses.... read Comments: 11 Recommended: 2 Read: 2197
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Turkey’s Coup that Failed
Ibrahim Kalin Series: The World in Words 2010-03-05The exposure of senior military officials’ plan – called “Operation Sledgehammer” – to destabilize Turkey’s government, and the subsequent arrest of high-ranking officers, demonstrates the growing strength of Turkey’s democracy. Yet some observers still insist on reducing the latest coup plot to the simplistic formula of "secularists" versus "Islamists."... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 3334
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The Dangers of Deficit Reduction
Joseph E. Stiglitz Series: Unconventional Economic Wisdom
2010-03-05
Even with large deficits, economic growth in the US and Europe is anemic, and forecasts of private-sector growth suggest that in the absence of continued government support, there is risk of continued stagnation – of growth too weak to return unemployment to normal levels. if these forecasts are right, a premature “exit” from deficit spending is not worth the risk. ... read Comments: 5 Recommended: 0 Read: 10437
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The Mind’s New Eye
Frank Wilczek Series: Science and Society 2010-03-05The Large Hadron Collider's ability to re-create the conditions of the early universe opens up an exciting possibility. We may finally be able to observe the so-called "dark matter," which contributes five times as much to the total mass of the universe as normal matter.... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 1 Read: 3143
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The Global Roots of Euro-Jitters
Harold James Series: Capitalism Then and Now
2010-03-04
It is too simplistic to explain the current wave of concern about the euro in terms of Greece’s problems. The euro’s current problems are, instead, a reflection of Europe-wide and global problems that have remained unresolved for the past 30 years. ... read Comments: 2 Recommended: 0 Read: 3035
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The Summit of Europe’s Ineffectiveness
Daniel Korski Series: Europe at Home and Abroad 2010-03-04The Pakistan-EU summit will take place on April 10, a follow up to the first meeting last autumn, but you would be hard-pressed to know anything about the event, since nobody is taking ownership of it. The reason is simple: the EU has nothing new to say or offer.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 1896
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Brazil, Iran, and the Road to the Security Council
Clovis Rossi Series: Latin America 2010-03-04
The attempt by Brazil’s government to participate in the international negotiations over Iran's nuclear program should be viewed in light of the country's overriding ambition to gain permanent membership of the UN Security Council. That goal explains Brazilian officials' recent shift from insisting on dialogue with Iran to mild criticism of its regime.... read Comments: 2 Recommended: 0 Read: 2233
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The Middle East’s Hair Trigger
Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace
2010-03-03Across the Middle East region, a fatalistic conventional wisdom is taking hold: war is unavoidable. With the days of Pax Americana in the region over, avoiding a regional explosion will require mobilizing the major international actors that favor diplomatic solutions for the Arab-Israeli conflict and for Iran’s quest to become a legitimate partner in a new regional system. ... read Comments: 1 Recommended: 0 Read: 3226
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Iraq’s Critical Election
Feisal Amin al- Istrabadi Series: Islam 2010-03-03
Iraqis go to the polls on March 7 to elect a new Parliament for the second time under the country’s permanent constitution of 2006. If, as many scholars believe, it is the second general election, not the first, which is the most important test of a new democracy, these elections appear to foreshadow ominous times ahead.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 1848
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Jinnah’s Labyrinth
Jaswant Singh Series: The World in Words 2010-03-03There is cruel irony in the observation that in Pakistan, founded in the name of Islam by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Islam itself should now constitute the principal challenge to the state. It is no less ironic that Pakistan, once seen as the protector of Western interests in South Asia, has become the central challenge to those interests.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 2083
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Japan’s Slow-Motion Crisis
Kenneth Rogoff Series: The Unbound Economy
2010-03-02
Investors who have bet against Japan in the past have been badly burned, grossly underestimating the Japanese people’s remarkable flexibility and resilience. But, while Japan’s ability to trudge on in the face of huge adversity is admirable, the risks of crisis ahead are surely greater than bond markets seem to recognize.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 21352
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Can Asians Resolve Global Problems?
Simon Chesterman and Kishore Mahbubani Series: The Asian Century 2010-03-01In the past, Asians put a premium on protecting their sovereignty and were wary of any multilateral approaches that could dilute it. Now, in response to global challenges – for example, pandemics, financial crises, and climate change – the vast majority of Asian countries understand that collective action does not erode but instead protects sovereignty. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 2895
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Turning the Corner in Eastern Europe
Thomas Mirow Series: European Economies 2010-03-01
Many countries in Central and Eastern Europe were hit hard by the global financial crisis, owing to a massive build-up of debt - much of it in foreign currencies - during the boom years that preceded it. Sustainable recovery will require the development of strong local capital markets, as well as stronger institutional and regulatory frameworks – and not just at the national level.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 2654
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