Global trading patterns have become increasingly intertwined. So too has global prosperity. Rather than products or services simply originating in one country and being sold in another, value is often added by many countries involved in complex supply chains. This means that one country’s success in enabling trade not only plays a significant part in its own overall competitiveness, and by association, prosperity, but also has implications for the competitiveness of other countries. Moreover, si

Did you hear about the new bill that would allow the U.S. government’s official overseas information agency to rebroadcast its content onto American TV and radio? The bipartisan Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 was introduced in Congress last week by Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Washington), both of whom are presumably dissatisfied with their satellite TV package and think more government-produced content would go down better with an after-work beer.Not really. As Thornb

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea ― Just down the hill from a South Korean Air Force helipad here sits the air base’s barber shop, encased in glass. The front wall is floor-to-ceiling windows displaying shattered toilets in the men’s room and a gaping hole in the ceiling, wires and rebar still dangling.This barber shop was one of about 30 buildings damaged or destroyed in a North Korean rocket attack in November 2010. Now it’s a museum of sorts.You might think South Korea is keeping this and other

CAIRO ― A few days ago, I watched a debate between Amr Moussa and Abdel Moneim Aboul-fotoh, two of the leading candidates among the 13 running for president of Egypt. This stunning debate went on for more than four hours and was watched by millions of Egyptians and Arabs. Contrary to the perception around the world that Egypt is inexorably sinking into chaos and intolerance, this debate in many ways reflects the hope for a new Egypt following last year’s January 25 revolution.From the time of Ra

In the millions of words written about Europe’s debt crisis, Germany is typically cast as the responsible adult and Greece as the profligate child. Prudent Germany, the narrative goes, is loath to bail out freeloading Greece, which borrowed more than it could afford and now must suffer the consequences. Would it surprise you to know that Europe’s taxpayers have provided as much financial support to Germany as they have to Greece? An examination of European money flows and central-bank balance sh

CHICAGO ― Turkey has recently been at the forefront of international economic and political debates. On the one hand, despite the economic crisis engulfing neighboring Europe, Turkey remains the world’s second-fastest growing economy, after China. On the other hand, there is almost no issue on the global agenda ― from Iraq and Afghanistan to Somalia, Iran, and the Arab Spring, and from sustainable development to a dialogue among civilizations ― on which Turkey is not playing a visible role.This

Recent weeks have seen what some are calling a “shareholder spring” in the U.S. and Europe. Investors, led by institutional shareholders (traditionally a quiescent bunch), have protested pay awards for top executives at several big public companies, and in some cases have overturned them. European Union regulators are now considering a next step: giving owners a binding vote on top pay instead of the nonbinding “say on pay” that prevails in much of the EU and in the U.S. since 2011, compliments

As a former secretary of labor and current professor, I feel I owe it to you to tell Americans the truth about the pieces of parchment they’re picking up today.You’re screwed.Well, not exactly. But you won’t have it easy.First, you’re going to have a hell of a hard time finding a job. The job market you’re heading into is still bad. Fewer than half of the graduates from last year’s class have as yet found full-time jobs. Most are still looking.That’s been the pattern over the last three graduati

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts ― It is with regret that we announce the death of inflation targeting. The monetary-policy regime, known as IT to friends, evidently passed away in September 2008. The lack of an official announcement until now attests to the esteem in which it was held, its usefulness as an ornament of credibility for central banks, and fears that there might be no good candidates to succeed it as the preferred anchor for monetary policy.Inflation targeting was born in New Zealand in Ma

WASHINGTON ― Rearranging the deck chairs would not have saved the Titanic. Nor did the endless debates on the shape of the table in the Vietnam negotiations advance the effort to end that malign conflict. Nevertheless, many American presidents have successfully redesigned talks with adversaries in bold new ways to strengthen national security without war. Such boldness is now needed in the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt negotiated personally with Soviet F

Another international summit has come and gone without any of the coordinated action that is vital if an ailing European economy is to be revived.Confronted by a crisis whose resolution demands intervention on a par with the crash of 2008, last weekend’s G8 communique was long on words and short on action. There were no concrete measures, least of all a plan to back up public pleas for growth. And, while next month’s G20 meeting in Mexico could offer a second chance for coordinated action, there

The second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster passed with little fanfare last month. But with our government on the brink of allowing the oil industry to explore in America’s remote Arctic Ocean this summer, it is worth revisiting some of the lessons learned from the biggest oil spill in the nation’s history. Stopping that spill took three months, even though it occurred in the relatively calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico near Coast Guard stations, cleanup equipment, and abundant shor

The National Assembly has opened a new office building for its members. The plush building, which cost 220 billion won to build, is a reminder that lawmakers have learned nothing at all from the provincial governments that are mired in debt due to construction of luxurious office buildings. Of course, the new building won’t push the National Assembly into a debt crisis. It can finance it with taxpayers’ money. Yet if legislators use their budget authority to increase their own benefits and conve

North Korea has released an ambiguous statement, leaving many puzzling about its real intentions. The North’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday suggested that there would be no immediate nuclear weapons test, dismissing speculation that the communist country would test an atomic bomb soon to compensate for its botched long-range rocket launch last month.The ministry’s spokesman asserted that the North did not have a plan for a nuclear test from the beginning as its aim was to launch a scientific and t

McDonald’s Corp. appointed Dave Hoffmann, a senior vice president of the company's Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa operations to president of the region.Hoffmann, a 16-year McDonald's veteran, succeeds Tim Fenton who recently was promoted to McDonald’s chief operating officer.McDonald’s CEO-elect Don Thompson, who replaces retiring CEO Jim Skinner, said, “Throughout his career, Dave has demonstrated outstanding leadership and strategic insight. Jim and I are very confident in Dave’s abiliti

In the winter of 1933, the Belgian detective and former police officer Hercule Poirot boards the Orient Express in Istanbul that will take him on a three-day train journey across the European continent. Somewhere in the Balkans, the train comes to an unexpected halt as large snowdrifts cover the tracks. The next morning, an American businessman who occupied the compartment next to Poirot is found murdered ― stabbed to death. Since there is no obvious suspect and furthermore since the clues are m

PHILADELPHIA ― A last-minute deal between the United States and China may afford human-rights lawyer and activist Chen Guangcheng the opportunity to enroll in law school in New York. But, even if a way out of the diplomatic debacle is at hand, much about the case remains troubling. In particular, despite more than three decades of legal reform in China, Chen had precious little recourse to fight harassment and house arrest at the hands of the Chinese authorities.Indeed, 23 years after dissident

NEW YORK ― Every year, millions of people die from preventable and treatable diseases, especially in poor countries. In many cases, lifesaving medicines can be cheaply mass-produced, but are sold at prices that block access to those who need them. And many die simply because there are no cures or vaccines, because so little of the world’s valuable research talent and limited resources is devoted to addressing the diseases of the poor.This state of affairs represents a failure of economics and la

U.S.-Egypt ties have become snarled over the past year. Many Egyptians resent the U.S. because it supported the deposed regime of Hosni Mubarak. And the U.S. has struggled for a coherent response to the country’s back-and- forth dance with democracy under transitional military rule. The Egyptian presidential election May 23 and 24, with a runoff June 16 and 17 if necessary, offers a chance to revive the relationship. For the last few months, Egypt’s relationship with the U.S. has been stuck, ove

Traveling through South Korea these days I am continually impressed by the high level of economic and infrastructure development. South Korea has high speed trains, seamless 3G phone and internet service, modern highways, a sophisticated financial system, and almost everyone effortlessly uses the latest cutting edge technology. South Koreans have pushed their country to the top tier in international rankings of gross domestic product, life expectancy, per capita income and worldwide brand recogn