As the world suffers through a mix of weather (warm winter temperatures) in the continental US and climate (cold weather) in Alaska and Europe, some interesting new numbers are starting to trickle in.Preliminary reports from the Energy Information Administration’s “Annual Energy Outlook” (which will be fully published in April) suggest that any carbon crisis may […]

News from the Treasury Department is rarely good these days. The latest news, however, should be welcomed by all: as the NYT reports, the department is rolling out a new set of rules that should make it easier for Americans to transfer money saved in 401k accounts to annuities that provide some insurance against running […]

Asia Times is reporting today that, according to “well-placed sources in the Taliban”, large numbers of soldiers in the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police plan to defect to the Taliban after international forces pull out of the country. The Taliban source claimed that leading commanders of both the ANA and the ANP had […]

First he was a robot programmed to accomplish the dark and devious theocratic schemes of the Mormon Church. Now they say Mitt Romney isn’t Mormon enough. The Grey Lady is knocking the former Governor for deviating from the LDS church’s position on immigration: While Mitt Romney is taking a hard line on immigration even as […]

Pakistan’s Supreme Court moved this week to indict Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on contempt of court charges. Gilani has said he will comply with the court’s final decision in the case. The charge stems from a disagreement over whether President Asif Ali Zardari can be tried for corruption in a case related to kickbacks […]

Could Paul Krugman possibly be wrong?  Could the US economy be actually recovering even though the Obama administration hasn’t taken Professor Krugman’s advice?That is the heretical possibility suggested by the encouraging jobs news this morning; 243,000 new jobs and a further fall in the unemployment rate.Other heretical thoughts: just possibly, the US economic model still […]

My earlier blog post on Hungary’s new constitution has elicited a large and often angry response from some Hungarians, and now the Hungarian State Secretary for Communication, Zoltán Kovács, has written a critical letter to The American Interest that you can read here.   I will be responding to all of this in a few days, […]

Even the staunchest Eurocrats have to admit that the Greek intervention has been a disaster. Bailouts, debt write-downs, solemn agreements: nothing works and after two years of concentrated effort, Greece is still on the brink of default.  A strong piece in this morning’s NYT by Rachel Donadio explains a big part of the problem.Look under […]

India is turning away from its long preoccupation with declining Pakistan as rising Chinese power sets alarm bells ringing in Delhi.  That at least is the message of this important Reuters review of India’s changing defense posture.In Reuters’ words: Defence chiefs are hurrying to modernise ageing weaponry as China reinforces a 3,500-km (2,200-mile) shared but […]

We received the following letter from the State Secretary for Government Communication, Dr. Zoltán Kovács, on February 2nd, responding to Francis Fukuyama’s post of January 23, “Do Institutions Really Matter?“The text of the letter follows:Budapest, 2 February 2012.Dear Sir,Last week you published an article by Francis Fukuyama on your website (“Do Institutions Really Matter?” January 23, […]