In The News

Harper’s: Buddhism Meets the Chinese Economy

Will Ford April 17, 2018
China’s fast-growing economy brings cultural changes and heightens tensions in Tibet. “As in many regions in China’s interior, the government was trying to kick-start development via tourism, promoting Tibetan culture, horse trekking, and hiking,” writes Will Ford for Harper’s. He describes Lhamo, a lopsided community with a main street that straddles two provinces, Gansu and Sichuan. The former...

Japan Times: Japan and Fourth Industrial Revolution

Heizo Takenaka April 2, 2018
Big data, artificial intelligence and robotics are revolutionizing business, both increasing efficiency and reducing labor requirements. Japan, the world’s third largest economy, confronts two challenges, slow government response for labor and other reforms and the need for stronger corporate governance, explains Heizo Takenaka, a former fiscal policy minister for the country. Japan also has two...

New York Times: Globalization’s Backlash Comes at Wrong Time

Neil Irwin March 28, 2018
US voters responded to promises of tariffs, jobs and protectionism during the 2016 presidential campaign and spurred a backlash to globalization: “It is coming after the major costs of globalization have already been borne,” explains Neil Irwin for the New York Times. “And it comes just as billions of people who have become integrated into the global economy over the last three decades are...

The Economist: Egypt’s Election Offers No Choice

March 27, 2018
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi will win what the Economist is describing as a sham of an election. Opponent Moussa Mustafa Moussa “has lived up to a promise not to challenge the president,” notes the Economist. The election, March 26 to 28, is Egypt’s ninth national ballot since the 2011 revolution that ousted authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. The first election in 2012 resulted in...

Fortune: US Deep in Debt

Shawn Tully March 20, 2018
A rising US stock market hinges on a treacherous mound of debt growing due to recent tax cuts for corporations and workers. “The U.S. government’s huge and growing budget deficits have become gargantuan enough to threaten the great American growth machine,” writes Shawn Tully for Fortune magazine. “On our current course, we’re headed for a morass of punitive taxes, puny growth, and stagnant...

Reuters: What Has Brought Iranian Protesters to the Streets?

Bozorgmehr Sharafedin January 1, 2018
Tens of thousands of people in Iran are protesting the government’s economic policies with at least 12 deaths reported. The protests lack centralized leadership and in general demand greater government focus on domestic issues rather than costly interventions in Syria, Yemen or Iraq. “Iranians vented their anger over a sharp increase in prices of basic items like eggs, and a government proposal...

BBC: China Condemns US “Cold War Mentality” on National Security

December 19, 2017
A new US security policy labels China and Russia as “rival powers” that threaten US economic dominance, reports BBC News. A China spokesperson suggested that the United States is “distorting China’s strategic intentions,” and Russia responded by suggesting it “cannot accept” being regarded as a threat. The United States, in emphasizing “America first” policies, must prepare for other countries...