May 122020
 

Hat tip to Gideon Rachman, chief foreign-affairs columnist of the Financial Times, for providing a plausible answer to the question (Has China won?) I wrote about in the previous post. Easy to understand, argues Rachman, why China might be feeling its oats. It is opening up its economy after having [continue reading . . . ]

Apr 072020
 

That’s the title of a new book by Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean scholar, author and diplomat and former president of the United Nations Security Council. Subtitle: The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy. Mahbubani, the so-called “muse of the Asian century” per his Amazon blurb, is plowing familiar ground. Exactly two [continue reading . . . ]

Apr 062020
 

Well-done piece in the New York Times today on the politics of the coronavirus. Here’s an excerpt: As Republicans prepare for a re-election battle almost certain to hinge on perceptions of the Trump administration’s readiness and efficiency in performing its most solemn duty — to protect American lives — the [continue reading . . . ]

Mar 192020
 

Thoughts on sheltering in place from Donald G. McNeil Jr., the New York Times reporter who has been covering epidemics for two decades: It’s very, very inconvenient. It destroys your vacation plans. My niece’s wedding is off. People are heartbroken over this, but it beats being dead, or having somebody [continue reading . . . ]

Jan 182019
 

Will we live in a unipolar world dominated by China in 20 or 30 years? Not likely, says Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs. Writing in the Financial Times, Sachs notes that China’s economy, already larger than that of the U.S. measured at international prices (what is called purchasing-power parity), will [continue reading . . . ]

Feb 222018
 

Don’t miss Greg Ip’s column in the Wall Street Journal Feb. 22, 2018, on increasing oil production in the United States and its implications. The article is behind a paywall. If you are not a subscriber (as I have been for 50 years), your library card might do the trick. [continue reading . . . ]