WEEKLY SERIES

THOUGHT LEADERS

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COMMENTARIES

COMMENTARIES

  • How to Save the Euro

    Daniel Gros Series: European Economies
    2010-03-12
    The 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
  • Japan’s Financial Truant

    Yuriko Koike Series: Asia Watch
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    2010-03-12
    cartoon 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
  • Cars, Bombs, and Climate Change

    Bjørn Lomborg Series: Global Warning
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    2010-03-12
    Why 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
  • A Crisis of Understanding

    Robert J. Shiller Series: Finance in the 21st Century
    2010-03-12
    cartoon 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
  • Re-Repairing Bosnia

    Morton Abramowitz and James Hooper Series: Europe at Home and Abroad
    2010-03-11
    The 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
  • An Indirect Route to a Palestinian State?

    Daoud Kuttab Series: The World in Words
    2010-03-11
    cartoon 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
  • The End of an Era in Finance

    Dani Rodrik Series: Roads to Prosperity
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    2010-03-11
    On 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
  • China’s Bad Bet Against America

    Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right
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    2010-03-10
    cartoon 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
  • Catalyzing Consumption and Balancing Growth

    Anoop Singh Series: The Asian Century
    2010-03-09
    China 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
  • The Dutch Retreat

    Ian Buruma Series: Crossing Cultures
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    2010-03-08
    cartoon 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
  • A Reset in the Caucasus

    Vartan Oskanian Series: The World in Words
    2010-03-08
    This 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
  • Free Tilly – and all Circus Animals

    Peter Singer Series: The Ethics of Life
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    2010-03-08
    cartoon 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
  • Turkey’s Coup that Failed

    Ibrahim Kalin Series: The World in Words
    2010-03-05
    The 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
  • The Dangers of Deficit Reduction

    Joseph E. Stiglitz Series: Unconventional Economic Wisdom
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    2010-03-05
    cartoon 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
  • The Mind’s New Eye

    Frank Wilczek Series: Science and Society
    2010-03-05
    The 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
  • The Global Roots of Euro-Jitters

    Harold James Series: Capitalism Then and Now
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    2010-03-04
    cartoon 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
  • The Summit of Europe’s Ineffectiveness

    Daniel Korski Series: Europe at Home and Abroad
    2010-03-04
    The 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
  • Brazil, Iran, and the Road to the Security Council

    Clovis Rossi Series: Latin America
    2010-03-04
    cartoon 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
  • The Middle East’s Hair Trigger

    Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace
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    2010-03-03
    Across 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
  • Iraq’s Critical Election

    Feisal Amin al- Istrabadi Series: Islam
    2010-03-03
    cartoon 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
  • Jinnah’s Labyrinth

    Jaswant Singh Series: The World in Words
    2010-03-03
    There 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
  • Japan’s Slow-Motion Crisis

    Kenneth Rogoff Series: The Unbound Economy
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    2010-03-02
    cartoon 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
  • Can Asians Resolve Global Problems?

    Simon Chesterman and Kishore Mahbubani Series: The Asian Century
    2010-03-01
    In 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
  • Turning the Corner in Eastern Europe

    Thomas Mirow Series: European Economies
    2010-03-01
    cartoon 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