Competition, we are constantly told, encourages individuals, institutions and companies to take the risks necessary for innovation and efficiency. But in higher education, competition often discourages risk taking, leads to overly cautious short-term decisions, produces a mediocre product for the price, and promotes excessive spending on physical plants and bureaucracies. The construction arms race on campus is the most visible example of competition run amok. To become more attractive to potent

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011.At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city

The left-wing United Progressive Party is headed toward a train wreck as the widely denounced former mainstream faction has launched its own emergency leadership, challenging the one set up with the blessing of the party’s central committee.The new interim leadership is headed by Oh Byung-yoon, one of the six lawmakers-elect of the National Liberation faction, which until recently ran the party. The move demonstrated the faction’s determination to defend its two proportional lawmakers-elect ― Le

WASHINGTON ― Perhaps when Chinese leaders began to speak over the last several years about a new “Beijing Consensus” and the triumph of the “China Model,” that was a warning the bubble was about to burst. And we’re seeing that hubris play out now, as China’s leaders struggle with the greatest internal crisis since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. This time, the political machinations have mostly been behind the scenes among the Communist Party elite. The headline event was the purge of Bo

Facebook’s initial public offering reminds us of a story. Once upon a time, there was a young man who fled his homeland (Brazil) because his life was in danger (kidnappers). Like so many before him, he came to the United States. There, in the safety of the freest, most dynamic country on earth, he got a superb education (Harvard), the opportunity to exercise his entrepreneurial zeal (Facebook) ― and the protections of the U.S. legal system to safeguard the fruits of his labor. That man is Eduard

Does anyone know what a woman looks like when she’s not being watched? Women are more or less poster girls for the Heisenberg principle: It’s like you can never know what we look like when we’re not being observed, because we’re always being observed.We’ve had two examples getting attention in the recent press attempting to establish what women actually look like in our natural habitat. It’s as if we’re wild, exotic creatures ― as if women were as rare as the luminously fragile glass-winged butt

NEW YORK ― The Greek euro tragedy is reaching its final act: it is clear that either this year or next, Greece is highly likely to default on its debt and exit the eurozone.Postponing the exit after the June election with a new government committed to a variant of the same failed policies (recessionary austerity and structural reforms) will not restore growth and competitiveness. Greece is stuck in a vicious cycle of insolvency, lost competitiveness, external deficits, and ever-deepening depress

NEW YORK -- The Greek euro tragedy is reaching its final act: it is clear that either this year or next, Greece is highly likely to default on its debt and exit the eurozone.Postponing the exit after the June election with a new government committed to a variant of the same failed policies (recessionary austerity and structural reforms) will not restore growth and competitiveness. Greece is stuck in a vicious cycle of insolvency, lost competitiveness, external deficits, and ever-deepening depres

Facebook’s initial public offering reminds us of a story. Once upon a time, there was a young man who fled his homeland (Brazil) because his life was in danger (kidnappers). Like so many before him, he came to the United States. There, in the safety of the freest, most dynamic country on earth, he got a superb education (Harvard), the opportunity to exercise his entrepreneurial zeal (Facebook) -- and the protections of the U.S. legal system to safeguard the fruits of his labor. That man is Eduar

Obesity has become a danger far greater than hunger. Yet amid the alarming stories about its harm to America’s health and economy, one bit of information has been drowned out: The percentage of U.S. adults who are obese appears to have plateaued. According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which measures the heights and weights of a representative sample of almost 6,000 Americans, the prevalence of obesity in 2009-2010 was essentially the same as in 2003-2008. Gi

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama concur on how to deal with the politics of gay marriage: Keep it below the radar. Both the president and his Republican challenger believe their focus in the fall campaign has to be on the economy and jobs. To spend much time on any other issue ― foreign policy, abortion or gay marriage ― would be a distraction. This is the message both campaigns told surrogates to deliver over the past week. Neither side believes many votes will be changed by the president’s recent

Some want the 2012 election to be about regulating America’s bedrooms. But it really ought to be about regulating the nation’s boardrooms.The bedroom regulators are on the move. Republicans don’t want same-sex marriage. Mitt Romney says he’s against it, as are the voters of North Carolina, who just approved a Republican-proposed amendment to the state constitution banning it. Twenty-nine other states have similar bans. President Obama supports same-sex marriage.Meanwhile, Republicans have introd

PRISTINA, Kosovo ― Syria is not on the path to peace through the present form of the six-point plan of Kofi Annan, supported by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.The plan is based on the goodwill of President Assad to stop the repression of political dissent and punitive military actions against communities where an insurrection has arisen over the last year. The plan also presupposes that once the repression and the killing have stopped, a “dialogue on transition” will begin.Th

The controversy surrounding the lawmakers-elect of the Unified Progressive Party boils down to two questions. One is whether the party’s proportional lawmakers-elect who were selected through fraud-ridden primaries should resign or not, while the other is if it is acceptable for North Korea sympathizers to become lawmakers.The first question is not so difficult to answer. A majority of party members and ordinary citizens outside the left-wing minority party rightly think that they should step do

President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Myanmar earlier this week was significant as it signaled Korea’s willingness to help the Southeast Asian nation transition to democracy and achieve economic development.The landmark visit ― the first by a South Korean president in 29 years ― was also intended to give a message to North Korean leaders. What Lee wanted to say can be summed up as: “Look at Myanmar. If you open up, plenty of support will come your way.” Lee’s decision to visit Myanmar must have bee

WASHINGTON ― As America begins to pull back its troops from Afghanistan, there’s one consequence that gets little notice but is likely to have lasting impact: Pakistan is losing the best chance in its history to gain political control over all of its territory ― including the warlike tribal areas along the frontier. Pakistan has squandered the opportunity presented by having a large U.S.-led army just over the border in Afghanistan. Rather than work with the U.S. to stabilize a lawless sanctuary

Now that Vladimir Putin is Russia’s president once again, the result of still another fraudulent election, we should expect ever more hostile relations with Moscow.Putin, a vain and vulgar man, was born and bred to despise the United States. And in recent times, Washington has given him little reason to change his mind.The latest example: President Obama waited several days before calling Putin to congratulate him on his election victory this month ― though Obama did manage to call Francois Holl

Manila should not get deep into a tit for tat with Beijing over the Scarborough Shoal dispute despite the two capitals trading barbs against each other. While the exchange is understandable and has been kept to levels short of open hostilities, the Philippines should focus on elevating the dispute to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). A month after the standoff, the Philippines has not made good its plan to elevate the matter to ITLOS unilaterally. If Manila thinks that i

Thousands of tickets have been sold for the Lady Gaga concert, scheduled for June 3. If the event is canceled, fans will surely get their money back, as with previously abandoned music performances. But the reason this time would officially not be a security threat in light of a recent bombing attack, prompting organizers to call off the concert. In the words of the police, it would be because the star “indulges in revealing her body, dancing erotically and spreading pornography.”Speaking for th

While there are no known foolproof solutions to conflicting territorial claims in international politics, patience and self-restraint seem to be a sensible course of action for all the claimants, because if a dispute degenerates into armed conflict, none of the claimants can be assured of the outcome and may even end up losing more than they might have otherwise gained. There is also the risk of conflicts spilling over into new fights and the danger of collateral damage. A case in point is the d