Showing 1 - 10 of 35
How China won innovation in lieu of freedom
Oped, Jennifer Lind, Published on 28/11/2025
» A decade ago, China's government unveiled Made in China 2025 -- a bold vision for transforming the country from the world's assembly line into a global innovation leader. The plan was met with considerable scepticism, particularly in the West, where a robust scholarly consensus held that authoritarianism was fundamentally incompatible with innovation. China was light-years behind the global frontier. Barring drastic political change, many observers concluded, China would remain a "copycat nation".
Narcotic nightmare
Oped, Postbag, Published on 10/10/2025
» Re: "Drug policy fails", (PostBag, Oct 8) & "PM hails successful drug suppression campaign", (BP, Oct 4).
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.
Recalling a world of dots and dashes
Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/05/2025
» I forgot to mention in PostScript last week that Sunday, April 27, was Morse Code Day which marks the birth of Samuel Morse, inventor of the famous communications code. The reason for my interest is that it brings fond memories of the late 1960s when I worked at Cable and Wireless (C&W) communications company in Holborn, central London.
China ramps up global yuan push
News, Samuel Shen & Tom Westbrook, Published on 03/05/2025
» As Chinese President Xi Jinping toured Southeast Asia last month to forge closer ties against higher US tariffs, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) was seizing a moment of confusion and disruption in global trade to promote greater usage of the yuan.
Trump II's intellectual foundations
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 22/11/2024
» It seems counterintuitive and contradictory to think of an intellectual foundation behind United States President-elect Donald J Trump when he is professedly unintellectual, even anti-intellectual. But make no mistake. Mr Trump is merely a phenomenon. Understanding it reveals his worldview and consequent policy prospects. But doing so requires seeing the Trump phenomenon as it is rather than why and how it is detested by countless millions of us. Indeed, the biggest difficulty when analysing Mr Trump and his second administration is the global disdain he elicits.
What microfinance can teach world economists
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 13/09/2024
» 'Economics is a meaningless subject," Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, microfinance pioneer, and rogue economist told Time magazine a few months ago.
Remembering a Southeast Asianist
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/07/2024
» It is not often these days to find scholars of Southeast Asia with exceptional breadth and depth, prescience, and commitment who stick to their creed until the end. In the pantheon of such rare scholars, Benedict O'Gorman Anderson, who died in 2015, would have led the way. James C Scott would be right beside him in a distinctly different fashion.
How two little piggies saved their bacon
Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/11/2023
» Following last week's gripping yarn concerning the rescue of Fiona, the loneliest sheep in the world, it seems only fair to report on another tale featuring animals in distress. My thanks to reader Paul Drew for alerting me to the saga of two pigs, Butch and Sundance, who became known in England as the Tamworth Two, belonging to the breed of that name.
Too late for turtles
Oped, Postbag, Published on 04/02/2023
» Re: “Recycle to save sea life, dept urges”, (BP, Feb 2). The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) is asking us to recycle our plastic waste to help save sea life, but unfortunately too late for the 11 young turtles that died from ingested plastic mistaken for food in the 700-metre floating garbage patch off the Chon Buri coast.