Dance of the giants
China and America in South-East Asia
by R.G. | BEIJING
THE spectre looming over Barack Obama’s eight-day swing through Asia was unmistakable. Behind the talk of a trans-Pacific free-trade zone, and the agreement to rotate American troops through a base in northern Australia, and America’s first participation in the East Asian Summit meeting in Bali, the president’s tour was all about China. Two-speed Europe, or two Europes?
The future of the EU
by Charlemagne | BRUSSELS
NICOLAS Sarkozy is causing a big stir after calling on November 8th for a two-speed Europe: a “federal” core of the 17 members of the euro zone, with a looser “confederal” outer band of the ten non-euro members. He made the comments during a debate with students at the University of Strasbourg. The key passage is below (video here, starting near the 63-minute mark)
Perry Flat Tax Is Fool’s Gold for Conservatives: Ramesh Ponnuru
Perry Flat Tax Is Fool’s Gold for Conservatives: Ramesh Ponnuru
Illustration by Devin Rochford
Perry’s mistake wasn’t in choosing the wrong details for his plan. It was in taking on an impossible mission. For all its superficial appeal, the flat tax cannot be made politically viable.
Wall Street Protesters Should Remember Stones Tune: Amity Shlaes
Wall Street Protesters Should Remember Stones Tune: Amity Shlaes
Illustration by Leif Parsons
By Amity Shlaes
What do they want, and what do they need? That’s the question about the protesters who now occupy Wall Street, Washington and just about everywhere else. Theirs is what might be called a Rolling Stones situation: They can’t always get what they want, but if somebody tries, some time, they may get what they need. Protesters want redress of a proximate wrong, or some “efforts to crack down on abusive practices” of Wall Street, as President Barack Obama put it last week. They need something more general: a job or a better job; cash or insurance for health bills; a way to pay off student loans. In other words, a stronger economy.
Fed’s Secrecy During Crisis Limits Effort to Stop Another: View
Opposites in many ways, the Tea Party movement and Occupy Wall Street have this in common: Both have channeled the public’s not always well-informed anger over the behavior of banks and government during the financial crisis. As it turns out, they didn’t know the half of it, and neither did the rest of us, including Congress.
Euro Area Is Coming to an End: Peter Boone and Simon Johnson
Investors sent Europe’s politicians a painful message last week when Germany had a seriously disappointing government bond auction. It was unable to sell more than a third of the benchmark 10-year bonds it had sought to auction off on Nov. 23, and interest rates on 30-year German debt rose from 2.61 percent to 2.83 percent. The message? Germany is no longer a safe haven.
Euro Won't Survive If Italian Government Defaults: The Ticker
Whatever it takes. Ever since the euro crisis started, this is the message that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have delivered to defend the common currency. Until last week.
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