In The News

Japan Times: Sense of Crisis Over Depopulation

Hisakazu Kato September 6, 2018
Japan’s aging population has been in decline since 2008 – the country has 126 million people today and that could sink to 88 million by 2065.The culprit is a fertility rate of 1.43, well below replacement levels. Japan is not alone. “A declining fertility rate has also been observed in many other Asian countries in recent years,” writes Hisakazu Kato for Japan Times. “The rate in South Korea,...

Reuters: US Accuses China of LinkedIn Spy Campaign

Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay September 5, 2018
Social media platforms are designed to gather data from users in order to promote connections. US counterintelligence chief William Evanina warns that Chinese agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts “to recruit Americans with access to government and commercial secrets,” reports Reuters. “LinkedIn says it has 575 million users in more than 200 counties and territories, including more than 150...

Financial Times: Business Leaders Warn of Lack of Progress on Emissions

Ed Crooks September 5, 2018
The world population has grown by about 80 million people annually since the year 2000, but countries make little progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming. The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, a group of corporate executives and political leaders, warns the world is missing an opportunity. The commission describes the next decade as a “‘use it or lose it...

Project Syndicate: China Is Losing the New Cold War

Minxin Pei September 5, 2018
The Communist Party of China seeks to avoid the fate of the Soviet Union and its political system, and that is why China adopted some features of capitalism with a focus on economic growth. Nominal per capital income increased from $333 in 1991 to $7,329 in 2017. But China, much like the Soviet Union, is being drawn into a costly arms race with the United States. China’s defense budget, standing...

Washington Post: US Denies Passports to Border Citizens

Kevin Sieff September 4, 2018
The United States is increasingly denying passports to citizens who live along the Mexican border – even those with official birth certificates. The target: babies born at home, often by midwives. The policy was in effect since 2000, but enforcement has increased. “The Trump administration is accusing hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Hispanics along the border of using fraudulent birth...

Quartz: Crisis in Emerging Market Currencies

Eshe Nelson September 3, 2018
Currency worries are not unusual for emerging economies. As currencies decline in value, investors may withdraw, and exchange with other currencies can become difficult; the countries struggle to make payments especially on debt in more costly US dollars. “What began in Argentina and Turkey has snowballed into broader collapse in confidence that has policy makers in Indonesia, India, South Africa...

Al Jazeera: Rohingya Refugees Made Permanent, a Cycle Repeated

Linah Alsaafin September 2, 2018
As the United Nations invests in improved infrastructure and living conditions for refugees, risk emerges that temporary homes become permanent and discourage a return home. Camps housing 1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, are overwhelming, writes Linah Alsaafin, and she compares the experiences with those of Palestinian refugees. The Rohingya camps confront challenges...