The Devil is indeed in the details. Writing in Slate, Matthew Yglesias argues that significant policy decisions can hinge on which statistics legislators choose to heed. Unfortunately, they often choose bad ones, particularly when it comes to the economy: Even the smartest theoretical or policy work is basically valueless if it’s based on flawed or misleading […]

Dai Zigeng, the publisher of the Beijing News, resigned last night after state censors forced the paper to publish an editorial in today’s edition that is critical of Southern Weekend, a Guangdong newspaper where protests over censorship erupted last week.Beijing News and Southern Weekend (yesterday we called it Southern Weekly, an alternative translation) are owned by […]

Jiang Mianheng, the son of a former Chinese leader, has just dumped $350 million into an ongoing project by China’s National Academy of Sciences to develop a new kind of nuclear reactor with a new type of fuel. The project has been underway for almost two years now, but this new cash infusion is sure […]

The scandal surrounding pre-recession banking industry practices continues to unfold. According to the FT, U.S. banks reached settlements over past fraud and abuse that will cost them more than $20 billion. Bank of America will pay Fannie Mae $11.6 billion in reparation for the bad loans it sold to the mortgage company, and it also joins nine other […]

The average doctor can spend almost 11 percent of his or her career waiting for malpractice cases to be decided, according to a study printed in the January issue of Health Affairs. For some specialists, nearly a third of their careers can be spent in malpractice limbo. The results aren’t pretty: The length of time […]

A US and EU bilateral transatlantic trade deal is moving slowly into view as both sides prepare for the beginning of formal negotiations. The mobilization towards an agreement reflects the changing landscape of global trade. If a deal emerges, it will allow the U.S. and EU more leeway to set the rules of the road […]

Good Italy, Bad Italy: Why Italy Must Conquer Its Demons to Face the Future by Bill Emmott Yale University Press, 2012, 304 pp., $30 Italy is a large and prosperous country but one that has never sat comfortably among the great powers. During the 1950s, it was home to Europe’s strongest communist party—a party that, […]

State censorship of one of China’s most liberal newspapers has sparked escalating protests over the past few days in the southern province of Guangdong. An editorial written late last week in the Southern Weekly urging China’s new leaders to pursue political reforms was replaced by the newspaper’s censor with a piece lauding the ruling party’s achievements. […]

Regular readers are already well aware that we are not optimistic about Europe’s economic future, and this CNN Money report throws more fuel on the fire. Newly-released statistics show that the combined Eurozone jobless rate reached 11.8 in November, a record high: Eurostat data published Tuesday showed unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone hit a record high […]

A study released yesterday found that the development of the Canadian oil sands has increased the level of carcinogens in nearby lakes beyond natural levels. Greens everywhere are likely choking on their own outrage, and at first glance they appear to have cause. The New York Times reports: Layers of the sediment were tested for deposits […]