Recently, we hear a growing chorus how the China - Philippines dispute in the South China Seas ought to be settled by binding arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We already have dealt with some of the political dimensions of this (see, e.g., our South China Seas tag), and I won't rehash them here. But I do want to bring up a couple of … [Read more...] about Philippines, China, UNCLOS and the South China Seas
Opinion
Why is the US so unhappy?
Perhaps it's too much democracy, human rights and freedom. More likely, it's too less of those things and way too much worries and troubles such as a lack of financial security, too much crime, not enough health care, and deficiencies in other indices of well-being. A common way to measure happiness and well-being is the Happy Planet Index by the New Economics Foundation. In … [Read more...] about Why is the US so unhappy?
In Japan’s Shoes
In 2006, a high level meeting took place between Zhu Zhixin, vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, and Jun Hamano, vice minister for economic and fiscal policy (Cabinet Office) to discuss the consequence of the 1985 Plaza Accord where Japan was forced by the United States to rapidly increase the value of the Yen versus the USD. Many economists … [Read more...] about In Japan’s Shoes
On Territorial Disputes
The Retraction of Mike Daisey’s one-man show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” from ‘This American Life’
[Editor: this piece was co-written by Charles Liu and Allen] To the credit of "This American Life" - a popular program on Public Radio International - its producers over the weekend officially retracted its January airing of a version of Mike Daisy's popular monologue titled “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” in which Daisy described first-hand terrible work … [Read more...] about The Retraction of Mike Daisey’s one-man show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” from ‘This American Life’