Showing 1 - 10 of 10
The late Pope Francis and the soul of economics
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 06/05/2025
» Pope Francis redefined the papacy in profound ways. As the leader of the Catholic Church, he worked to make it more inclusive of women and the LGBTQ+ community. As the first Latin American pontiff, he became a voice for the Global South. And by taking his name -- and inspiration -- from St Francis of Assisi, he positioned himself as a champion of the poor and marginalised.
Still haunted by Washington Consensus
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 11/06/2024
» In 1989, the British economist John Williamson christened what was to become the defining intellectual export of the era of globalisation: the Washington Consensus. Initially a reference to the policies adopted to tackle macroeconomic turmoil in Latin America, the term quickly morphed into a canonical "ten commandments" of development.
For China, Europe visit part of a wider confrontation
News, Peter Apps, Published on 14/05/2024
» In the Serbian village of Budjanovci outside Belgrade, people have talked for years about the Chinese teams that descended on the area following the shooting down of a US F-117 stealth fighter in March 1999, offering to buy pieces of wreckage taken by villagers as souvenirs.
Britain braces for invasion of bed bugs
Roger Crutchley, Published on 22/10/2023
» One English expression my wife often comes up with is "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite". It sounds particularly comforting in her Thai accent, although occasionally she gets in a bit of a tangle with the three "b" words at the end which can be a bit tricky if spoken quickly.
Protectionism started the geopolitical fire
Oped, Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, Published on 04/10/2023
» It has been puzzling to see many prominent economists decry the Trump administration's tariffs as welfare-reducing protectionism while approving of the Biden administration's even more drastic steps to reshore, friend-shore, and decouple from China.
Beat climate change with divestment
Oped, Zeb Larson, Published on 19/02/2022
» Environmental activist and writer Bill McKibben estimates that climate divestment -- the movement to pressure universities, churches, and other institutions to stop investing in, and thus profiting from, carbon-emitting companies -- has removed close to $15 trillion (482 trillion baht) from investments in polluting companies, marking a significant victory for Planet Earth.
Urgent changes needed to resolve supply-chain mess
News, Daron Acemoglu, Published on 08/12/2021
» Global supply chains used to be the last thing policymakers worried about. The topic was largely the concern of academics, who studied the possible efficiency gains and potential risks associated with this aspect of globalisation. Although Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 had demonstrated how supply-chain disruptions could impact the global economy, few anticipated how central the problem could become.
'Flying comma' suffers a bumpy landing
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/12/2019
» Although it didn't make the headlines, there was a small item of news last week that will sadden those who treasure the English language. It looks like the poor old apostrophe is coming to a full stop. Finally admitting defeat, the chairman of Britain's Apostrophe Protection Society dedicated to preserving the much-abused punctuation mark, threw in the towel and announced it was all over, stating "the ignorance and laziness in modern times have won".
Robots arrive for India's factory jobs
News, Anjani Trivedi, Published on 28/09/2018
» A textile-yarn company in western India soon will have more machines than workers. A manufacturer in southern India sold almost double the number of its automated goods last year. India's biggest carmaker has one robot for every four plant employees.
How Asia can tackle US trade wars
News, Lee Jong-wha, Published on 02/04/2018
» Over the past five decades or so, Asia's economies have relied largely on an export-oriented development model to support rapid economic transformation and growth. But with US President Donald Trump fulfilling his promise to adopt a more protectionist approach to trade -- an effort that could spur retaliatory measures by other countries -- that model is coming under increasing strain.