Young Thais mount a remarkable challenge to their government
Sep 3rd 2020THE LAST time Thailand saw protests of the size now roiling the country was nearly seven years ago. Then, pro-establishment types declaring love for the king, the late Bhumibol Adulyadej, and for the armed forces that protected him, came out in Bangkok, the capital. They opposed the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra, which…
To China’s alarm, America modestly upgrades ties with Taiwan
Sep 3rd 2020CHINA HAS never renounced what it says is its right to “reunify” Taiwan by force if peaceful means are thwarted. So armies on both sides have to prepare for war, however remote it may seem. Of late the number of naval exercises China has conducted has caused alarm—all the more so at a…
A kitten that resembles Baby Yoda was rescued from a California wildfire
The Force was potentially with a baby cat rescued in a wildfire in Northern California as the feline bears a stunning similarity to Baby Yoda. On September 20, firefighters unearthed the kitten, projected to be roughly 2 to 3 weeks old, in the midst of the road while in Northern California battling the North Complex…
What we could learn from China’s ‘Fitness Buff Grandma’
With the recent quarantine, health and fitness became one of the top priorities of people all over the world. Home workout videos and workout influencers became trending in the past months. People seem to be taking better care of their bodies and their health. This is in the belief that a healthier individual will have…
The World Bank’s business-rankings mess
Sep 3rd 2020RUNNING A BUSINESS is hard in many parts of the world. So the World Bank gives governments an incentive to make it easier, and ranks them according to where the burden of regulation is lightest. This year, though, its Doing Business (DB) index has itself been ensnared in procedural problems. On August 27th…
Can private equity’s numbers be trusted?
Sep 3rd 2020IN “THE BLACK ISLAND”, Tintin, the quiff-sporting boy reporter, uses a plane to chase a pair of forgers flying over Scotland. As he closes in on them, they suddenly disappear into a bank of clouds. “Just as I feared,” says his pilot. “Running into cloud.” After crashing into a dyke, Tintin emerges bruised…
India is still trampling on civil liberties in Kashmir
SAIFUDDIN SOZ is not under house arrest; he is just not allowed to leave his home. Now 82 years old, he once represented the northern Kashmir valley in the national parliament in Delhi. He spent five years as a minister in the government of Manmohan Singh, the prime minister who preceded the present one, Narendra…
India and China exchange the first gunshots in 45 years
Sep 8th 2020INDIA’S CONDUCT was as reckless as “doing a handstand on the edge of a cliff”, fulminated the Global Times, a state-run tabloid in China, on September 8th. “We must warn India seriously: you have crossed the line!” In India’s telling, it was Chinese troops who crossed the line, approaching an Indian position near…
Who does Wall Street back for president?
THE TIES between Wall Street financiers and politicians are the subject of a lot of scrutiny. Not for nothing is Goldman Sachs, a bank, sometimes nicknamed “Government Sachs”. But how important are the moneybags in New York to political success in Washington, DC? Quantifying the relationship can be done using the extensive data collected about…
Two damning portrayals of Indian finance
Sep 5th 2020CENTRAL BANKERS who leave office often write memoirs. Few are as damning of the financial system they once served as Urjit Patel, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2016-18, and Viral Acharya, its deputy governor in 2017-19, who is now an academic at NYU Stern School of Business. In…