http://prosyn.org/8orX04c;
Muslim leaders, and much of the UN General Assembly, have denounced Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
How much damage has Trump done to prospects for peace?
China’s Belt and Road initiative, launched in 2013, is the biggest and most ambitious infrastructure project ever undertaken. But while China touts its benefits, especially for developing countries, others see traps, downsides, and a worrying drive for hegemony.
Economists have always believed that previous waves of job destruction led to an equilibrium between supply and demand in the labor market at a higher level of both employment and earnings. But if robots can actually replace, not just displace, humans, it is hard to see an equilibrium point until the human race itself becomes redundant.
As the European Central Bank pursues monetary-policy normalization in 2018, it should proceed with caution. It will need to balance mounting pressure from Germany for faster normalization with a realistic assessment of the durability and breadth of the unfolding recovery.
If a hard Brexit is economically unacceptable to British business and Parliament, a soft Brexit is politically unacceptable to EU leaders, and a fake Brexit is unacceptable to almost everyone, just one alternative remains: no Brexit. That would mean revoking Britain’s withdrawal notice under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.
In the tenth year since the start of the global financial crisis, the US economy reached a new high-water mark, and the global economy exceeded expectations. But whether these positive trends continue in 2018 will depend on a variety of factors, from fiscal and monetary policymaking to domestic politics and regional stability.
For decades, Australia has maintained a close partnership with the US, not least on security matters. But President Donald Trump's antics have lately put a heavy strain on the bilateral relationship, with potentially serious consequences, particularly for the Australian authorities' effort to curb Chinese political meddling.
This commentary was originally published in September 2013.
PRINCETON – In Scotland, I was brought up to think of policemen as allies and to ask one for help when I needed it. Imagine my surprise when, as a 19-year-old on my first visit to the United States, I was met by a stream of obscenities from a New York City cop who was directing traffic in Times Square after I asked him for directions to the nearest post office. In my subsequent confusion, I inserted my employer’s urgent documents into a trash bin that, to me, looked a lot like a mailbox.
Europeans tend to feel more positively about their governments than do Americans, for whom the failures and unpopularity of their federal, state, and local politicians are a commonplace. Yet Americans’ various governments collect taxes and, in return, provide services without which they could not easily live their lives.
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