Showing 1 - 10 of 49
Creepy toys
Oped, Postbag, Published on 15/06/2024
» Re: "Doll seller faces charges over undelivered orders", (BP, June 11).
Populism's great replacement of economics
Oped, Published on 07/02/2024
» In 1944, as World War II neared its end, the exiled Hungarian economic sociologist Karl Polanyi published The Great Transformation, a treatise that focused on the dangers of trying to separate economic systems from the societies they inhabit. Eighty years on, Polanyi's warnings about a market economy unleashed from human needs and relations may prove prescient. In fact, the future that he foretells bears a strong resemblance to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in which the doctor's creature runs amok and eventually turns on its creator.
The Beijing Consensus offers cautionary tale
Oped, Published on 19/09/2023
» For four decades, "Made in China" has been a defining feature of global capitalism. But a wave of disappointing economic news from China has given rise to increasingly gloomy forecasts, with some going so far as to argue that decline is imminent. There has been much speculation about this reversal's implications for the global economy, but what does it mean for development theory?
Inequality rising and democracy under seige
Oped, Published on 09/09/2023
» There has been much handwringing about the retreat of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism in recent years -- and for good reason. From Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and former US president Donald Trump, we have a growing list of authoritarians and would-be autocrats who channel a curious form of right-wing populism. Though they promise to protect ordinary citizens and preserve longstanding national values, they pursue policies that protect the powerful and trash longstanding norms -- and leave the rest of us trying to explain their appeal.
China's 'comeback' needs more than a policy reversal
Oped, Published on 27/01/2023
» When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, his first message to the rest of the world was: "America is back". Having assumed his third term as general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October, President Xi Jinping appears to be issuing a similar proclamation.
Why Sri Lanka imploded so catastrophically
Oped, Published on 23/07/2022
» As Sri Lanka's economy unravels before our eyes, one must ask how this could happen in a country historically known for its high standard of living and stable economy. Sri Lanka's achievements go back decades, giving it a per capita GDP that is 70% higher than India's, and a life expectancy at birth of 77 years, compared to 73, 70, and 67, in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, respectively.
Age-old nature of the 'New Cold War'
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 19/11/2021
» History is back with a vengeance. Contrary to what proponents of the "end of history" theory said a few decades ago, the ideological struggle of the 20th century between the "free world" versus "the socialist-communist" camp is still ongoing, despite the Cold War ending over three decades ago. The struggle now features the United States-led Western alliance versus the China-centric global network of nations with authoritarian tendencies.
Squid Game: South Korea's latest cultural phenomenon
AFP, Published on 08/10/2021
» SEOUL: A dystopian vision of a polarised society, Netflix smash hit "Squid Game" blends a tight plot, social allegory and uncompromising violence to create the latest South Korean cultural phenomenon to go global.
The Quad and the next Cold War with China
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 28/09/2021
» The creation of an Australia-United Kingdom-United States military alliance last week caused a tempest in a teapot, but the real action was elsewhere. In Washington on Friday the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue ("Quad" for short) held its first-ever face-to-face summit, and defined the sides in the great-power confrontation for the next generation.
China approves plan to veto Hong Kong election candidates
AFP, Published on 12/03/2021
» BEIJING - China's rubber-stamp parliament voted Thursday for sweeping changes to Hong Kong's electoral system -- including powers to veto candidates -- as Beijing moves to ensure that only "patriots" run the city following huge pro-democracy rallies.