The Chicago teacher strike is a time bomb ticking away inside the blue coalition, a conflict between the producers of government services (like teacher unions) and the consumers. The Democratic Party wants to represent them both, as we noted earlier today.We’re not the only one watching this drama unfold in the heart of America’s third-largest city. […]

India’s politicians have shouted each other down and forced parliament to close early almost every single day of the month-long Monsoon session. The Associated Press describes the chaos: India’s Parliament adjourned a raucous, one-month session Friday [September 7] that had more shouting matches than official business. . . .Only four out of 30 slated bills […]

After an absence that dates back to the Vietnam War era, and 11 years to the day after 9/11, ROTC is finally returning to Harvard, Columbia, and Yale. At a time when everybody is talking about how polarized America has become, it’s worth noting this sign of reconciliation between elite academic institutions and the U.S. military.We’ve had two […]

Chinese patrol ships arrived in waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands on Tuesday, within hours of Tokyo’s announcement that it had signed a contract to buy several of the islands from their private owners, a Japanese family. As Jane Perlez reports for the Times: “The ships, belonging to the China Marine Surveillance, are commonly deployed in the South […]

Americans have warned Europe for years that cuts in defense spending were turning the great European states of old into military lightweights lacking the resources for even basic military tasks. Europeans scoffed at America’s defense obsession, rejoiced in their soft power, and kept on merrily cutting their budgets.That policy is coming back to haunt them. The […]

This isn’t how Team Obama drew up its reelection plans. Teacher unions were supposed to be coming out in force against big bad Republicans like Scott Walker, in battleground states like Wisconsin, where the campaign could sell a narrative of Koch-funded extremism to a fearful voting public. But now the teachers are striking in deep-blue […]

Asia’s rise is enormously important to America and to the world, but that doesn’t mean that Asia’s economies will soon loom over the US. On one side, American innovation in both energy and high-tech manufacturing will keep the American economy vital for years to come, and on the other, there are good reasons to question the sustainability of […]

Last week we asked why Keynesian policies haven’t worked in China, despite nearly ideal conditions for such a stimulus. A new post by Minxin Pei at The Diplomat may have answers.As Pei notes, China’s growth numbers actually did look rather good during the worldwide recession, due in large part to stimulus efforts. But these positive […]

Temporary tattoos and microchips in the bloodstream that broadcast medical information:  are these the future of medicine? A story at the NY Times “Bits” blog suggests we might not be far away from such revolutionized healthcare: Later this year, a Boston-based company called MC10 will offer the first of several “stretchable electronics” products that can be put on things […]

China’s next president has disappeared. The blogosphere is erupting with rumors and speculation about why the presumtive leader of the world’s most populous country can’t be found just weeks before he is set to assume the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. The FT reports: Over the past week Mr Xi has cancelled at least four […]