NEW YORK ― The G20 has concluded its meetings and dinner discussions of what to do about charges that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has used poison gas to kill more than 1,400 of his own people. France, Britain, Turkey, and Canada expressed varying degrees of support for U.S. President Barack President Obama’s call for military action, while Russian President Vladimir Putin called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a liar and claimed that the evidence against Assad is inconclusive. Russia and

Officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture must be glad summer is winding down. It’s been a rough few months as federal auditors have issued two reports that found problems with administration of the nation’s bloated farm bill.Agencies erroneously awarded millions of dollars, and because of poor documentation, many recipients will never be found. Both the department and Congress have roles to play in reducing future incidents.The first audit came in June. The Government Accountability Offic

If ever an election was lost not won, it was the weekend’s vote in Australia. Exhausted by the Labor Party’s feuding, the country ditched Kevin Rudd’s government and elected the Liberal-National coalition led by Tony Abbott. The new prime minister, once seen as gaffe-prone and unelectable, has said he’ll grow into the role. He’d better, or it won’t be long before Australia regrets its choice.To call the coalition’s platform weak would be generous. Mostly, it was empty ― and its few specific idea

In November 2001, George W. Bush issued a warning to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and other rogue nations: “If they develop weapons of mass destruction that will be used to terrorize nations, they will be held accountable. And as for Saddam Hussein, he needs to let inspectors back in his country, to show us that he is not developing weapons of mass destruction.”Political folklore holds that Bush rushed the nation into the Iraq war. But this warning came nearly 17 months before the U.S. invasion

“What’s the secret of South Korea’s economic success?” This is the question I am frequently asked whenever I encounter foreign public officials at the Korea International Cooperation Agency or the Central Officials Training Institute. I tell them that the key to our success is our strategy of manufacturing electronics and automobiles, and the creation of an export-oriented economy. Then I always add that behind Korea’s fantastic success are the Korean people’s diligence, dedication and determina

As the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to start winding down its massive stimulus program soon, Korean policymakers need to step up market monitoring and take steps to minimize its negative impact.The Fed is holding a policy meeting Sept. 17-18 with two-thirds of Wall Street analysts betting that what will emerge from the meeting is a decision to begin tapering the bond-buying scheme starting this month. Since May, when the Fed first suggested that it might start to scale back its money printing

The Ministry of Justice has launched a task force to see if it can take to the Constitutional Court a case that seeks to disband the leftist, minor opposition United Progressive Party.The ministry’s move is a response to the petitions filed in May by conservative civic groups, which asked it to invoke its constitutional right to pursue dissolution of a political party that threatens the democratic order.The nation’s Constitution stipulates that the government can bring action against a political

For a war-weary nation still feeling the tragic effects of two hard-fought foreign conflicts, the very thought of intervening militarily in another nation’s chaos should give us pause.And that is exactly what is happening as Americans of all walks of life ― from those meeting on Capitol Hill to the ones gathered around kitchen tables and water coolers ― debate whether the United States should strike at the Syrian regime in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack on its own people.The president

BERKELEY, California ― Broadly speaking, for at least 115 years (and possibly longer) ― that is, at least since the publication of the Swedish economist Knut Wicksell’s “Geldzins und Guterpreis” (Interest and Prices) in 1898 ― economists have split into two camps with respect to what a central bank is and the purposes it should serve.One camp, call it the Banking Camp, regards a central bank as a bank for bankers. Its clients are the banks; it is a place where banks can go to borrow money when t

Throughout the Federal Reserve’s 100-year history, the Senate has generally deferred to the president’s choice of leader for the central bank. If Larry Summers is picked for the job, however, the debate around his nomination would be unlike any that has come before.For reasons that make a great deal of political sense, some Republicans and more Democrats will resist the nomination. Such a roll of the dice by the Barack Obama administration could have short-term unsettling consequences for financ

When Russian President Vladimir Putin came out to welcome world leaders to last week’s G20 summit at the Constantine Palace in Strelna, a St. Petersburg suburb, many wondered how it would go between him and U.S. President Barack Obama.The latter had, after all, likened Putin to a bored, slouching kid at the back of the class. The Russian ex-KGB officer, eight years Obama’s senior, took offense. In an interview the day before the summit, he resorted to the royal “we” when commenting on Obama’s re

Ronald Coase, who died last week at the age of 102, was one of the greatest economists of the 20th century. His impact on academic thought and public policy is incalculable.In 1991, Coase won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in part for a theorem he set out in a 1960 article that is, by a large margin, the most cited law-journal paper of all time. The Coase theorem produced a revolution in both thought and public policy.His target was the great British economist Arthur Cecil Pigou,

Hard as it may be to believe, the Iraqi government wants the United States to come back ― and right away.“We need you as a partner in a flaming region,” Lukman Faily, Iraqi ambassador to the United States, told me over breakfast a few days ago. “And I think you need us.”Yes, the Middle East is “aflame,” as Faily put it. And Iraq is in deep trouble, like most of the region. Almost daily, 20, 30, 50 or more people die in terrorist attacks that generally involve Sunnis killing Shiites, or vice vers

Congress will reconvene shortly. That means more battles over taxes and spending, regulations and safety nets, and how to get the economy out of first gear. Which means more gridlock and continual showdowns over budget resolutions and the debt ceiling.But before the hostilities start again and we all get lost in political strategies and petty tactics, it’s useful to consider what’s really at stake for our economy and democracy.For much of the past century, the basic bargain at the heart of Ameri

NEW YORK ― A recent decision by a United States appeals court threatens to upend global sovereign-debt markets. It may even lead to the U.S. no longer being viewed as a good place to issue sovereign debt. At the very least, it renders non-viable all debt restructurings under the standard debt contracts. In the process, a basic principle of modern capitalism ― that when debtors cannot pay back creditors, a fresh start is needed ― has been overturned.The trouble began a dozen years ago, when Argen

It’s like we’re living in some kind of alternate universe where traditional paradigms have evaporated around the Syrian conflict. Suddenly, the fate of the world lies almost exclusively in the hands of France and its pragmatic Socialist President Francois Hollande ― and as a-right-winger based in France, I’m strangely comforted by this. France is the kind of friend who won’t always tell you want you want to hear, but they’ll have thought it through.Arguably, no nation is better positioned than F

As the Obama administration these days is trying to win the support of the U.S. Congress for an immediate, albeit limited, intervention in Syria, the Iraqi War lingers in the background like a ghost reminding the global community of the potential consequences of yet another military engagement in the Middle East. The Bush administration’s dubious claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq inevitably cast a shadow of doubt over the White House’s current efforts to persuade world leaders tha

The most important indicator of whether India will crash is the sweat on Raghuram Rajan’s brow.The new Reserve Bank of India governor arrived in Mumbai this week with a bang, announcing a slew of reforms to free up and expand the banking sector and to draw more Indians into the formal financial system. The news impressed traders, who staged much-needed rallies in both stocks and the rupee on Sept. 5.India’s economic crisis, however, is still simmering, and Rajan still resembles the proverbial fr

WASHINGTON ― A top Syrian rebel commander says that U.S. missile strikes could change the balance of the civil war in Syria. But even the Syrian opposition is worried about the political vacuum that might follow U.S. intervention and the possible collapse of President Bashar al-Assad. Gen. Ziad Fahd, the commander of the “southern front” for the Free Syrian Army, urged in a telephone interview Wednesday that the U.S. and its allies attack six air bases and three rocket-launching batteries around

It is not unusual for avid readers to stand in line at a large downtown bookstore, waiting for a renowned novelist or a well-read poet to write his or her signature on the books they have just purchased. Nor is it rare for a foundation to hold a book-launching ceremony in honor of a scholar whose research program it has sponsored.Book launches may come in different styles. But one thing is common: The authors and their publishers aim at wide readership. Profit making is no less important for man