In The News

Of the Party, For the Party

Nayan Chanda April 17, 2013
China’s new leadership has emphasized political reform in early speeches, but went one step further, promising “self-imposed revolution.” President Xi Jinping and other leaders have pledged “to fight red tape, conspicuous consumption by officials and … corruption,” reports Nayan Chanda in his column for Businessworld. “Not only will the size of the government be reduced, but ostentatious...

To Lift Afghan Women, Educate All

Susan Froetschel April 8, 2013
As NATO plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, stability is in doubt for a country with inept governance and stubborn opposition from an obscurantist group. Crime reports from Afghanistan suggest the Taliban are waging attacks on police and schools, including the recent attack on a convoy delivering school textbooks, which killed a young US State Department staffer. NGOs and diplomats, often...

What's in the Business-Labor Deal on Immigration?

Matthew Yglesias April 5, 2013
In the 2012 US presidential election, Latino voters threw their growing weight behind democrats and President Barack Obama. Chastened Republicans have now joined a new bipartisan push for immigration reform. US legislators, once polarized over immigration, must satisfy numerous groups: Americans who worry about competition for jobs; farmers, ranchers and managers in need of workers; and...

India’s Agriculture on the Brink

Deepak Gopinath March 27, 2013
Sound food policy should be a priority for India, on track for the world’s largest population by 2025. India has also achieved status as a major food exporter with rice, wheat and buffalo beef. Indian policies emphasize minimum support prices for farmers and subsidized crops for the poor, but these in turn spur food inflation, price volatility, overproduction of grains and overworked land. The...

College Grads May Be Stuck in Low-Skill Jobs

Ben Casselman March 27, 2013
The US economy could be in a long-term structural bind, failing to provide enough work for its educated young adults. Many economists had suggested that underemployment would be a temporary problem. But research by a team of Canadian economists suggests that a high-tech economy has reduced need for workers over the long term. Other economists suggest the findings are speculation, reports Ben...

No Shift in Iran's Nuclear Behavior, Despite Sanctions

Joby Warrick, Anne Gearan March 21, 2013
Sanctions have hurt the Iranian economy, but may have also strengthened leaders’ resolve to defy the US and Europe by pursuing a uranium-enrichment program. “[H]ardships have not triggered significant domestic protests or produced a single concession by Iran on its nuclear program,” report Joby Warrick and Anne Gearan for the Washington Post. “Although weakened, Iran has resisted Western...

“China Dream” – Unshaken Party Rule

Börje Ljunggren March 20, 2013
China’s new president is entering office with more charisma and more authority than has been credited to previous leaders. Xi Jinping is ambitious for big reforms, but must deal with corruption, environmental devastation and an unwieldy bureaucracy that’s mostly lacking vision and set on maintaining the status quo. Xi wants to continue economic reforms that would make China a respected,...