With the news that French forces have retaken not only Gao but Timbuktu, a colleague asked me this morning if I was surprised by the speed of French success. Here, in essence, is what I answered.No, I’m not at all surprised about the initial success of the past 18 days. The French force is the […]

The Senate has approved John Kerry to be the next Secretary of State. Mr. Kerry was confirmed by a large margin, and appropriately so. He has decades of experience, strong relationships with foreign leaders, and the essential qualification: the confidence of the President. Amidst a chaotic global scene, the long-time Massachusetts Senator has a broad […]

Will Bibi Netanyahu and Barack Obama—recently returned as Prime Minister and President, respectively—use their next terms in office to warm up their frigid relationship? Gerald Seib at the WSJ thinks so, writing that Bibi and Barack will “learn to live together in more harmony” from now on.“For one thing,” writes Seib, “they now know they’re […]

Last week I erred by identifying the now-rescinded FICA tax cut from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent as part of the Bush-era tax cuts; it wasn’t. A reader pointed out that this was a 2010 Obama Administration decision, part of the broader stimulus program.  I had forgotten that. Everything else I said about it stands, but while […]

The news this morning is not the kind a White House likes as it rolls up its sleeves to begin a second term.First comes the dismal headline economic report. “Real gross domestic product—the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States—decreased at an annual rate of 0.1 percent […]

Next to salary, a flexible schedule is the most prized aspect of a job, and the ability to telecommute isn’t far behind, according to a new survey of employees. The study, conducted by CareerBuilder last November, surveyed more than 3,900 employees to find out what job factors matter most to today’s workers.Not surprisingly, a large […]

As readers of my blog have discovered (perhaps with a measure of irritation) my favorite cognitive style is free association. The following post is an exercise in putting together bits and pieces—in the event: flea markets, cowboys, hobos and the root insight of anarchism.This exercise was triggered by the issue of The Christian Century on […]

Is Japan drifting to the right? The ongoing dispute between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea (known in China as the Diaoyu Islands) has triggered a debate about the trajectory of Japanese politics, and the return to power of the old guard Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has further enlivened it. […]

Fellow AI blogger and the chair of our editorial committee Francis Fukuyama has shared some thoughts on the unfolding situation in East Asia. He may be overestimating the fiscal limits on American power in the region—we still seem able to run up large bills on our credit cards—but his understanding of the crucial role of […]

Are you a nationally recognized health finance and economics expert willing to work for beans on a political lightning rod of a project? Do you enjoy being the subject of Senate confirmation hearings? If so, apply to be a death panelist today…because it doesn’t look like anyone else is. The Washington Post reports: The Independent Payment Advisory […]