Showing 1 - 5 of 5
US hard power must get harder
Oped, Published on 05/06/2025
» In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford gets his biggest laugh when a desert assassin twirls a scimitar with menacing bravado. Following this brief performance, Ford's character cracks a wry smile, takes out his pistol, and shoots the man dead. In a potential contest with China, the United States looks more like the medieval assassin, deploying young sailors and soldiers equipped with perilously outdated, vulnerable technology.
Be wary of the TikTokalypse on the radar
Oped, Published on 31/01/2025
» When the United States president, Congress and Supreme Court are all in a tizzy at the same time, the topic under discussion is usually a global meltdown or, at the very least, income taxes. Today, the concern is dancing cat videos. In his first day back in the White House, Donald Trump launched a strike against the Court and Congress by signing an executive order to pause the ban on TikTok, earning applause from the Chinese-owned company. TikTok's online content creators are relieved, too, for many warn that a ban (or a forced sale to a US company) would devastate them. I call it the TikTokalypse.
Countries that are in step must trade together
Oped, Published on 14/09/2024
» Donald Trump and Kamala Harris agree on little except a disdain for free trade. Ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, Mr Trump has threatened a 10% across-the-board tariff on imports, while Ms Harris, whose policy positions remain murky, has indicated that she would follow in President Joe Biden's footsteps with "targeted and strategic tariffs". American politicians' free-trade enthusiasm of the 1980s and 1990s has vanished, and this scares other countries, which know that the United States -- despite its wobbles and foibles -- remains the world's most attractive trading partner.
Will Cupid's aim improve this year?
Oped, Published on 14/02/2024
» Cupid may be hitting the mark in the shopping aisle, but he's not having much luck coaxing couples down the wedding aisle. Although Valentine's Day spending on significant others will reach a record high in the United States this year, fewer Americans are marrying and having sex, leading to fewer babies being born. But there is evidence to suggest that Cupid's aim will improve in coming years. If we want to survive as a species, we should be rooting for the pudgy cherub's success.
Are electric cars driving into a dead end?
Oped, Published on 02/02/2024
» In the early 1990s, every self-respecting American yuppie and retired suburban couple bought an electric bread maker, with sales hitting four million units. But the fad soon faded as these amateur bakers discovered that stuffing a precise quantity and ratio of flour, eggs, butter, yeast, and salt into a metal box takes time and costs much more than strolling to the corner bakery. Are plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) the breadmakers of our day?