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December 22, 2024
 

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Kaushik Basu
While U.S. Presidential-elect Donald Trump's policies have appealed to voters and boosted financial markets due to expectations of tax cuts and deregulation, experts warn they could backfire.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2024
What if Trump keeps his promises?
While Trump's policies have appealed to voters and boosted financial markets due to expectations of tax cuts and deregulation, experts warn they could backfire.
By enabling a few wealthy individuals to wield disproportionate influence, today’s global economy increasingly marginalizes and disenfranchises much of the world’s population.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2024
To preserve democracy, tax the rich
What the world needs are progressive tax systems that redistribute income from the rich to the poor without weakening socially beneficial incentives.
One problem with globalization is American leaders have the power to disrupt numerous economies by severing supply chains or manipulating financial flows, but citizens of those countries have no influence over U.S. elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2024
Democracy and authoritarianism in a modern, globalized world
The bedrock principle of democracy is that people affected by the decisions of political leaders should have a say in selecting those leaders.
Japan's law-abiding pedestrian culture and norms may help explain its economic performance.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2024
The economic consequences of legal behavior
There is a complex relationship between cultural norms, legal systems and economic development.
Anti-capitalist protesters with Occupy San Francisco take part in a demonstration on the streets of the Californian city in October 2011.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2024
The economic future of our overworked grandchildren
While John Maynard Keynes predicted a future of leisure and abundance, the world has seen an increase in wealth disparity and a culture of overwork.
Many obstacles stand in the way of effectively combating corruption globally. Reaching an agreement on international regulations would be a good starting point.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2023
A world engulfed in corruption and cronyism
In today’s interconnected world, the consequences of cronyism and corruption often extend beyond national borders.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2023
NATO’s Ukraine tightrope
NATO's cautious approach to Ukraine membership could reassure ordinary Russians that President Vladimir Putin's downfall would not mean their own.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2023
Governing the unknown
Major advances in AI are raising a raft of concerns about education, work, warfare and other risks that could destabilize human civilization long before climate change does.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2023
Can the global economy avoid a lost decade?
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are now predicting a prolonged period of sluggish growth and declining investment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2023
International law and halting the authoritarian drift
In a globalized world, the task of containing rising authoritarianism cannot be left to individual countries, because one rogue leader’s malfeasance can affect everyone.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2023
How Singapore continues to impress year after year
There are many reasons for Singapore’s rapid growth over the past six decades, but its authoritarian regime is not necessarily one of them.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2023
The Group of 20 could use a 'G Minor' grouping to represent emerging economies
While the G20 represents the world's largest economies, it's time to think of a group that could represent the needs of emerging and developing countries.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2022
When elections become more like sporting events
Elections are like sporting events: Many voters, like fans, seem to view victory over the other side as an end in itself
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2022
Putin and all the king’s games
In an era of democratic erosion, we must study the tactics that enable authoritarians like Vladimir Putin to stay in power.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2022
Why Sri Lanka imploded
Sri Lanka's ruling Rajapaksa family's ill-advised economic handouts and unsustainable policies eventually ran into a wall.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2022
Global shortages demand global solutions
Policymakers must try to establish minimal global conventions and agreements to deal with shortages of food and other essential commodities.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2022
The new art of economic warfare
The severe sanctions that the West has imposed on Russia may be justified to defeat Putin, but they have escalated economic warfare to an unprecedented level.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2022
There is a big economic and political cost to closed minds
One of the main reasons for the uneven COVID-19 recovery has more to do with politics than economics as support for aggressive nationalistic trade barriers has grown sharply in recent years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2021
An existential threat to humanity: Democracy’s decline
Increased outsourcing of production has contributed to hypernationalism, which in turn is fueling the rise of anti-democratic leaders who exploit people's desperation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2021
The inflation conundrum
Unlike prior inflation episodes, what is remarkable this time is how different the cross-country experiences have been as governments' diverse responses have led to varied economic outcomes.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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