One of the signs that the blue model is fading away is that individuals are increasingly taking responsibility for their own employment and livelihood, at the expense of the large bureaucracies that currently dominate the marketplace. The same process is underway in health care, albeit at a slower pace.One new development, however, may speed things […]

The Bo Xilai saga gripping China is now making waves in London as well. According to Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times, the city’s tabloids are exhibiting an unprecedented level of interest in Chinese politics, splashing the story across their front pages: Of course it is not so much the power struggle at the top […]

The anti-Semitic tide continues to rise across Europe, from France to Sweden to Hungary. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Josef Joffe, the sharp editor of Die Zeit, deconstructs a German example: the recent ravings of Nobel Laureate Günter Grass. Joffe first recaps the sordid story: Just before Easter this year, Mr. Grass launched a […]

As the diplomatic imbroglio between China and the Philippines over disputed islands in the South China Sea continues, Beijing is facing another territorial clash over another set of islands, this time with Japan. The group of islands, located in the East China Sea, are held by a private Japanese owner. The Japanese government has rented […]

The German presidency is a largely ceremonial office, though its incumbent is supposed to represent the political virtues of the Federal Republic. Thus the scandal forcing the recent resignation from the presidency of Christian Wulff on February 17, 2012, while closely followed (and perhaps caused) by the German media, was not much noticed abroad. Nor […]

TS Eliot was right, if you are a high school senior: April is the cruelest month.This is the time of year when most college acceptances and rejections go out, the time of year when high school students all over the country worry about whether their incoming mail is fat (stuffed with information and forms for […]

Yesterday, we looked at one part of the future of education: parents turning to private tutors to supplement school-administered learning. Our core point was that even as the old educational system changes, new jobs will emerge. Matthew Yglesias makes another important point about the bright outlook for jobs in the education field. Automation may not, he points […]

The slow-motion collapse of the U.S. Postal Service has prompted much discussion about how to reform the institution. There is broad agreement on the basics: services will be cut back, stations will close, and employees will be let go, while those who remain will see their benefits and salaries restructured. Many on the left in […]

Last summer’s creation of South Sudan, widely hailed as a victory for the humanitarian lobby, is looking less successful by the day. First, there was a series of minor skirmishes along the disputed border with Sudan; then this escalated into Sudanese raids on Southern towns. Last week, things reached a new and even more critical […]

The Philippines and China were at loggerheads last week when a Philippine warship confronted two Chinese fishing boats near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. China dispatched two vessels to block the Filipino officers from boarding the fishing boats. Both countries later tried to diffuse the situation by rescinding formal diplomatic protests, […]