President SBY has been at times daring, cutting fuel subsidies, and at others more cautious, like most of his predecessors, in challenging the status quo. Indonesia is still as backward as a country can get financially — but it may be turning the corner. At least five state-owned enterprises will be selling substantial shares to […]
Archive for the 'International Affairs' Category
The Politics of (Monetary Policy) Science, Part II
Published by May 15th, 2008 in Economics, International Affairs and Policy. 2 CommentsNo sooner do I publish a post about the politics of monetary policy than does Joseph Stiglitz make waves with a post that directly contradicts substantial portions of my post. It is therefore worth a cursory survey of his claims. Stiglitz is going for shock value at the outset of this column, where he writes:
The […]
Lessons in Diplomacy, Part II: The Highest Excellence
Published by December 31st, 2007 in International Affairs, Policy and East Asia. 0 CommentsThe text of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War may be austere, but its wisdom is timeless. One of my favorite passages from it states:
… to gain a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the highest excellence; to subjugate the enemy’s army without doing battle is the highest of excellence.
In other words, […]
Lessons in Diplomacy, Part I: A North Korean Tale of Two Economies
Published by December 31st, 2007 in International Affairs and East Asia. 0 CommentsIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it […]
Ecuador’s Economist President
Published by December 28th, 2007 in International Affairs, Personalities, Americas and Democracy. 3 CommentsAs you know, recently the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, interrupted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with a “why don’t you just shut up?” (por que no te callas?). I thought it was a hilarious and much needed exchange with the Venezuelan President, who usually comports himself with all the grace and dignity of a […]
Controversy Regarding “Radical Islam”
Published by December 4th, 2007 in International Affairs, History and Education. 6 CommentsAlthough not strictly an economics issue, or considered to be economics-related, I wanted to post some of the important documents that you may not have read regarding the “Radical Islam” controversy at the University of Florida. You know the basic story: the UF administration has requested that we apologize to the entire campus, not just […]
Speeches at Gators for Israel Rally
Published by November 8th, 2007 in Miscellaneous, International Affairs, UES and Asia. 4 CommentsTwo UESers gave speeches today at the Gators for Israel Rally. First was Zach Moller, the VP of North Florida for the Florida College Democrats, speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party. He mentioned President Carter and President Clinton’s attempts to broker peace in the Middle East, then focused on Seeds of Peace. He was […]
I encourage you to read this article on my 2003 home, Brisbane, Australia in the NYT. Gives it a good write-up, but it’s meant for rich people. Part of its appeal has always been that it mixes the old Australian country splendor with the new urbanity of a growing country.
That’s right: if you are an economist, and best of all, Indonesian, you just might have a shot at becoming Indonesia’s next Vice President! This seems more for show (a PhD degree in Indonesia is huge and people respond with deference to one), as is so much in the country, but who knows…
Nuclear Reactors in Syria
Published by October 27th, 2007 in International Affairs and Asia. 4 CommentsWe have all been receiving mixed signals for weeks now on the Israeli strike in Syria. Common sense indicates that Israel acted on reliable intelligence that something being built there posed a threat to its security. It is very unlike Israel to violate another country’s sovereignty without just cause in my opinion. For a good […]
Moving in Twilight, Introduction
Published by October 22nd, 2007 in International Affairs, History, Personalities, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Democracy. 0 CommentsWhen trying to put my thoughts together regarding the likes of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, I used to always refer people to the Lord of the Rings. In Lord of the Rings, there are clearly delineated ages. If you also read The Silmarillion, Monocrat’s Middle-Earth reading of choice, then you can read about the […]
The Economist’s Anti-Zionist Blinders
Published by October 17th, 2007 in Miscellaneous, International Affairs and History. 8 Comments…and so do I! Why in the world they have been so virulently anti-Zionist escapes me. The profound disgust with many groups of Israeli society and the total ignorance of motivations for why people act they way they do astounds me. How can it be that so many groups gain sympathy from this newspaper, but […]
Meeting Overview 10/02/07
Published by October 8th, 2007 in International Affairs, Policy and Meeting Records. 0 CommentsThis week’s topic: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech, and how to deal with Iran.
We began with debates over such questions as: What is terrorism? Who has been the bigger supporter of terrorism, Iran or Iraq? In what country does the most terrorism take place? And ultimately: Should we attack Iran, and should we have let […]
[Warning: major fluff post.] Bahasa Indonesia is spoken by a few hundred million people. It is the lingua franca of the tens of thousands of islands that comprise the country. Unfortunately, while I was there, I shied away from adopting any slang or personal dialects, preferring the textbook forms. As such, as far as I […]
Registan Round-up
Published by September 26th, 2007 in International Affairs, New Europe and Asia. 0 CommentsThis is no Multum in Parvo, but there are a few blogs that amount to mandatory reading and I think deserve round-ups. Registan, linked from Awkward Utopia, is one such blog. I have made mild criticisms of the tone of the posts in the past (here, here), but the truth is that the quality of […]
