In The News

Moment of Truth for Hong Kong and China: The Hill

Joseph Bosco May 27, 2020
China violates international norms on a number of fronts, from failure to protect intellectual property to ongoing support for North Korea, writes Joseph Bosco for the Hill. Many democracies, eager to protect business interests with the world’s second largest economy, remain silent about steady erosion in rights. In the midst of the pandemic, China moves to take more control over Hong Kong,...

Countries That Contained COVID-19: New York Times

Benjamin J. Cowling and Wey Wen Lim March 15, 2020
China reports new infections of COVID-19 have slowed with strict containment measures and travel restrictions. China also discouraged home quarantines and set up special monitoring locations. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan have deep ties to China and prevented massive outbreaks without drastic shutdowns, explain Benjamin J. Cowling and Wey Wen Lim for the New York Times. The measures include a...

Declining Fortunes of the Young: IMFBlog

Era Dabla-Norris , Carlo Pizzinelli and Jay Rappaport March 3, 2020
A key indicator of economic success for families is that children do as well as their parents. Such assumptions are less sure. “Despite being more educated than their parents, millennials – those born between 1980 and 2000 – may have less job stability during their working life,” explains a team for the IMFBlog. Entering and remaining in the middle class, fast-changing job requirements, intense...

Global Retirement Ages Creep Higher: CNBC

Lorie Konish February 15, 2020
Life expectancy is higher worldwide, and governments and individuals respond by hiking the retirement age. “Fueled by changes in lifestyles, working practices, diet and medical advances, people living today can expect to live up to 30 to 40 years longer when compared with people at the beginning of the 20th century,” notes the Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey. A majority of US workers plan to...

A Hong Kong Generation Criminalized: CNN

James Griffiths and Jessie Yeung December 24, 2019
More than 6,000 people have been arrested for protesting in Hong Kong. That number could climb as authorities review surveillance recordings. The protests began in June over a bill allowing extradition of accused to China. “The early demonstrations were legally-approved marches, however, almost everyone who has attended protests in recent months has been at an event deemed unlawful,” reports CNN...

Downsizing and Letting Go: Stuff

Nick Barnett December 14, 2019
Older and younger people alike are reconsidering the size of their homes and how many belongings they should own. Decluttering and downsizing are in vogue, and many people conduct regular inventories to assess which belongings they have not used or touched during the previous year. “Moving from a regular house into a tiny house brought that reckoning forward for me,” writes Nick Barnett for Stuff...

China Needs More Babies: Caixin

James Liang December 8, 2019
China’s fertility rate has barely budged even though the government has loosened its one-child policy for families. Population is linked to economic growth yet uncertainty combined with a rising living standard and cultural acceptance of small families contribute to the trends. China’s fertility rate is 1.8 children per women, below the 2.1 replacement rate. The nation posted 17 million births in...