In The News

China Hits Out at Attempts to Politicize Olympics

Jonathan Watts January 31, 2008
Cities compete fiercely for the opportunity to host the Olympics and display their culture and sporting venues under a global spotlight. As Beijing prepares to host the 2008 Olympics, protesters also plan ways to call attention to a range of problems, including genocide in Darfur, repression in China and independence for Taiwan. "No country in the world will compromise its core interests to...

Saying No to Coercive Care

Shikha Dalmia January 31, 2008
Some individual states have attempted to mandate the purchase of health insurance, with mixed results. For instance, Massachusetts offers subsidies for some people above the federally determined poverty line, but the rise in overall demand for health insurance has allowed insurance companies to increase premiums even faster. In turn, uninsured people above the cutoff for government subsidies...

Europe Looks East – Part I

Shada Islam January 30, 2008
Ever since Marco Polo returned from his voyages with fascinating tales, Europe has been curious about Asia, but distance and the pull of a powerful US economy made it easy to overlook the continent’s economic or strategic importance. As the emerging economies of Asia demonstrate increasing ambition and influence, Europe’s leaders recognize that they must work to build cooperation and full...

The GOP’s Prescription for Healthcare

Grace-Marie Turner January 27, 2008
The US health care system emphasizes health care as a benefit of employment. For more six decades, federal and state tax policy has tied the two together by exempting workers from paying taxes on any income used on employer-supplied health insurance. However, only about 60 percent of Americans are covered by employer-based insurance. Increasing procedure costs and mobility in the labor market...

Intransigent Face of the Chinese Superpower

Victor Mallet January 25, 2008
There’s danger in “trying to be all things for all people,” as the old saying goes. In many ways, the world has multiple expectations for China, the world’s largest country: engine of economic growth or villain that snatches jobs away; peacemaker or potential aggressor; a developing country with high rates of poverty or traditional culture offering wisdom to the world. As the country’s reputation...

A Crash Is China’s Chance for Reforms

Minxin Pei January 23, 2008
After spectacular growth over two years, China’s stock market has slipped into correction mode. “Because the Chinese government has been perceived as an active promoter of the country’s stock market, tens of millions of individual investors, members of the privileged urban middle-class, will direct their ire at the government,” writes Minxin Pei and Wayne Chen, researchers with the Carnegie...

Careful What You Wish For

January 22, 2008
Many challenges await the next US president, and all demand immediate fixes, report a team of reporters for Newsweek. Candidates make promises about 12 million illegal immigrants, with 500,000 more entering every year; a strained health care system that is unaffordable for the millions of uninsured; an overextended military in Iraq and Afghanistan; record oil prices; a battered economy; global...