According to the Washington Post, President Obama has decided to support a continuing government role in the housing market and plans to keep Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operating with government guarantees into the indefinite future.The decision is a GOP dream come true and could play a significant role in the campaign.If you wanted to […]

Remember this name: Xi Jinping.  You may not think you need to know who the vice president of China is, but he is likely to be China’s next premier and is one of the people who will be making your world. Today’s Washington Post has a gushing profile of him here.The Post is happy to […]

In a post a few weeks ago I envisioned a future for middle-class job growth in light of the contraction of American manufacturing employment. By leveraging the power of the internet, a wide range of services may spring up in which experts aid laypeople in navigating complicated systems such as health insurance and college selection: […]

In a bad sign for the future of religious pluralism in Indonesia, a member of the Ahmadi faith has been railroaded by an Indonesian court.  From the Financial Times: SERANG – A member of Indonesia’s minority Islamic Ahmadi sect was jailed for six months on Monday for inciting a mob attack on a house he […]

Back in those halcyon days when the world was young and pundit school was still far in the future, people in eastern South Carolina used to speak scornfully of “301 Yankees”, northerners driving south on what was then the main highway to Florida.  You could spot them because one arm would be fish belly white […]

India has arrested an anti-corruption activist for — conspiring to fast without permission.  1300 of his followers are also in the clink.  Given the role of fasting and non-violent resistance in India’s independence struggle, it’s almost the equivalent of the Feds arresting someone for reading the Declaration of Independence without a government permit.Anna Hazare, 74, […]

Niall Ferguson (he pronounces it “kneel,” by the way, so all you pretentious snobs can drop that ridiculous “Nile” business) wants no part of the China bandwagon.  In a Daily Beast column about his recent travels off the beaten track in the PRC, Ferguson notes China’s astounding progress — but focuses on a national real […]

Marine Insight has posted the 10 Maritime Piracy Affected Areas which include Malacca Straits, South China Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Guinea, Benin, Nigeria, Somalia, Indonesia, Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean. The article ends with a quote in regards to the inability of surrounding governments to stop the pirates: Marine piracy is a […]

It’s even worse than you think, the normally upbeat Joel Kotkin says as he reflects on recent riots in London and elsewhere.  Looking beyond the common cultural and political explanations, Kotkin sees a more fundamental problem with the way modern economies are organized: The hardening of class divisions has been building for a generation, first […]

Following China’s carrier launch last week, Taiwan and the US both responded: the Taiwanese military unveiled a carrier-destroying missile while the US showed off a shiny and advanced aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam.China responds: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has just returned from a very successful trip to China. As the Asia Times reports […]