One year after China introduced measures to cool the property market, which were described by some as the most draconian in history, tentative signs of cooling are only to be expected. Latest statistics show that month-on-month prices for new homes declined in 12 of 70 Chinese cities and remained flat in another eight cities in March while 29 cities saw smaller rises in property prices than in Feb

The proposed establishment of a bad bank is set in motion by the financial regulators, who are worried that soured project financing loans, if not dealt with appropriately, could cause a financial crisis. At the request from the regulators, creditor banks will sooner or later discuss the details, including how much of money each of them will chip in to set up a bad bank and how much of toxic loans

The number of people who are highly educated but economically inactive has been increasing at an alarmingly high rate during the past decade ― surely an unwelcome reminder to parents that the costly efforts to send their children to university may not pay off.As opposed to the economically active population, those economically inactive are people who do not work and, at the same time, do not meet

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has abandoned plans to try several terrorists, including the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, in civilian courts. Instead, it will use military tribunals to administer justice. It is a sad decision. The United States should be leading efforts to show that the fight against terrorism does not require sacrificing the very values that

When I heard that McDonald’s planned to hire 50,000 people next Tuesday, I thought it was a sign of reluctance by suburban kids to enter the workforce by wearing the Golden Arches.I’m one of the many Americans who have worked at a McDonald’s, which puts me in the company of Jay Leno, Carl Lewis, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Andie MacDowell and Macy Gray. But it’s a bigger group than that. Some estimates s

There is no magic wand that will bring down the price of gasoline, which has once again crossed the $4 mark. But there is a long-term solution that will inoculate us from higher costs in the future.The Obama administration can’t do much to lower the price of a gallon of gas, but it is on the cusp of a crucial decision that could help consumers come out ahead because they would need less gas.Offici

Despite the anti-Semitic ranting of Mel Gibson, the public gulf between Roman Catholics and Jews has narrowed during recent decades. It started with overtures from Pope John Paul II between 1979 and 2000, during which time he visited Auschwitz and Jerusalem. After following his predecessor to Auschwitz in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI slammed Holocaust deniers in 2009, then set off on an Israel trip. An

The coming Friday, April 22, marks the first “Saemaul Day” since the National Assembly passed a bill in February to commemorate the anniversary of former President Park Chung-hee’s launching of Saemaul Undong or the New Community Movement in 1970. But actual celebrations will be deferred to May as related authorities feared misunderstanding about their motivation in connection with the April 27 by

The six-party talks for the denuclearization of North Korea may be resumed sometime this spring after a hiatus of more than two years. South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed in Seoul last week that they would pursue direct inter-Korean talks as a prelude to reopening the six-way talks. This concurs with China’s recent proposal for a three-sta

Although no official ceremony was held, the wave of exultation covered the entire country when Asiana Airlines’ B777 touched down at Incheon Airport last Thursday. What emerged from the cargo section was the first batch of the 297 Royal Ceremonial Books, taken by the French military from a royal library in 1866, marking a historic return after 145 years. The books were taken from Ganghwa Island, a

Allen Ginsberg, who passed away in April 1997, once wrote a defiant poem entitled, “Capitol Air,” which begins: “I don’t like the government where I live.”I met him in 1981 in Buffalo, New York, where he read ― actually performed ― the poem to music on stage. The celebrated poet, who heralded the Beat Generation with his monumental poem “Howl” in 1956, fascinated the audience by reading his newly

Yet another joint government-civic committee is about to be formed to take charge of identifying Korean cultural articles overseas and start working for their return home. President Lee gave the instruction upon the return of Joseon era books last week from France after they were plundered from a royal archive on Ganghwa Island during an attack a century and a half ago.Like the 296-volume Joseon “

The April 27 by-elections to pick National Assemblymen for three districts in Gyeonggi, South Gyeongsang and South Jeolla provinces, the governor of Gangwon Province and to fill vacancies at several local autonomous bodies are about a week away. Neither the ruling nor the opposition party sees a clear lead in any of the parliamentary and gubernatorial contests, and both consider these polls as a b

As one month has passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, moves to provide employment assistance to victims of the disaster are spreading nationwide.Companies in the railway, video game, food, medicine and financial service sectors, among others, have come out with job offers for victims of the March 11 catastrophe. About 170 corporations have posted job offers with an online employment infor

In case it wasn’t clear already, we now know what the 2012 election will be about: how fast to cut federal spending, whether to raise taxes and what to do about healthcare, especially Medicare.President Obama’s awkwardly named “deficit reduction framework,” unveiled Wednesday, has the usual list of flaws of any long-term budget proposal. It doesn’t tie up every loose end. It includes a couple of “

WASHINGTON ― Economists theorize about an optimal position on the “welfare curve” ― a balance that, if changed, will make things worse. President Obama may feel the same way as he contemplates the coming round of changes to his national security team. By accident or design, Obama has assembled a roster of officials in key positions who work well together and perform their roles effectively. Most o

In the week and a half since the Chinese government detained artist Ai Weiwei on suspicion of “economic crimes,” Western governments and the global arts community have condemned China’s repression of free speech. Regular Americans, too, should care about China’s habit of stifling information that it doesn’t like to hear. China is applying the same habit to another type of speech, economic speech.

OK, so Sarah Palin probably isn’t running for president. She may have told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren that she was “tempted” because she was “wondering who the heck is going to be out there with a servant’s heart willing to serve the American people.” But evidence suggests there’s not a lot to wonder about when it comes to her candidacy.Palin’s approval ratings have never been lower. A CNN poll

MELBOURNE ― Scholars have long dreamed of a universal library containing everything that has ever been written. Then, in 2004, Google announced that it would begin digitally scanning all the books held by five major research libraries. Suddenly, the library of utopia seemed within reach.Indeed, a digital universal library would be even better than any earlier thinker could have imagined, because e

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget is the first sensible, long-term fiscal blueprint to come out of Congress in decades. You could say it’s a budget of the grownups, by the grownups, for the grownups.As such, it deserves what even President Obama says is needed, an “adult conversation” on the country’s financial health.Not that there hasn’t already been comment on Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity.” House