How times have changed in China. In Mao’s era, a traveler visiting Beijing might have heard people singing the famous song “Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China” with such patriotic, socialist lyrics as “The Communist Party toiled for the nation / The Communist Party of one mind saved China!”Not today. As Evan […]

On the eve of President Obama’s trip to the Middle East, this Gallup favorability poll highlights some of the challenges he will face. Most startling is the fact that Americans’ dislike of Egypt has increased to a twenty year high, with 53 percent holding an unfavorable view. That’s the highest percentage since Gallup starting asking […]

As the shock of the recession fades and the US energy miracle gets underway, Americans are migrating south and west in search of opportunity. The US Census Bureau reports that the Great Plains and Texas are experiencing the country’s most rapid population growth. Thanks to the energy boom, strong hiring growth, rising home prices, and […]

Readers will be forgiven for rolling their eyes as Greece resurfaces yet again as a major concern for European policymakers, Groundhog’s Day-style. Yet so it does, with the FT reporting today that the next tranche of bailout funds has been delayed due to a dispute over structural reforms—namely, the Greek government’s dragging its feet over laying off  several […]

Will we soon be producing our energy with waste water? A new study has found that cellulosic biofuel, a fuel produced by breaking down woody plant matter, can be produced with extremely low environmental impact using waste water. This may not sound like much, but the use of this kind of water could have a […]

The new Netanyahu government reflects the confluence of two revolutions, one religious the other social, that is embodied by the unexpected rise to power of two political novices, Yair Lapid and Nafali Bennet. Both campaigned on a program that called for relief of a middle class suffering from a lack of affordable housing, stagnant wages, […]

A leaked document shows that EU leaders are thinking about putting the brakes on their green ambitions in favor of growth-inducing policies. A 2008 EU law requires the bloc to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020. Wide-eyed green optimists hoped the EU would set 40 percent reduction goals for 2030. But as lawmakers […]

Citing rising costs, poor performance, and enrollment as low as 20 percent in some schools, Philadelphia has opted to close and consolidate 23 of its underperforming schools. Given the city’s $1.35 billion budget deficit and the fact that the district is operating 25 percent below capacity, this decision was a long time in coming.Philadelphia is […]

Anne-Marie Slaughter’s much lauded article, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”, concludes with an exhortation to women: “We have to stop accepting male behavior and male choices as the default and the ideal. We must insist on changing social policies and bending career tracks to accommodate our choices, too.” Indeed many firms are already promoting policies to open up […]

Beijing plans to send a survey team to the disputed Senkaku Islands very soon, Chinese state media reported this week. This would be a significant escalation in the two countries’ tussle.Accompanying the announcement of the survey expedition is an inflammatory op-ed in this morning’s Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party in China. China has […]