The degrowth movement, which had a moment a few years ago, is over -- and not a moment too soon. As nations in Europe and North America face mounting debt and aging populations, politicians are again talking about how to increase economic growth. There’s only one problem: No one is advocating policies that will actually work. Doing that would require embracing change, which is the last thing any politician beholden to populism wants to do. The best recent illustration is former President D

ViewpointsOct. 28, 2024

In this season of Nobel Prize awarding, South Koreans were happily surprised twice. The biggest news was of course the winning of the Nobel Prize in literature by the novelist Han Kang. Equally important, but perhaps less noticed news was the fact that the three winners of the Nobel Prize in economics revealed their work was largely inspired by the success of the Korean economy. In studying why some countries succeed economically, while others fail, they used Korea as a prime example of a succ

ViewpointsOct. 25, 2024

Why have some countries grown rich and others not? The three winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences -- Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson -- offer a simple answer: institutions. Countries with “inclusive” institutions -- which underpin an open society, accountable government, economic freedom and the rule of law -- do better than those with “extractive” institutions that reward those in power. The World Bank’s institutional qu

ViewpointsOct. 24, 2024

Over the past few days, the Korean Peninsula has been exposed to a flood of sensitive security issues. Above all, the news that North Korea was sending 12,000 special forces troops to Russia drew attention not only from South Korea but also from the international community. This explosive story changed the mood of major domestic politics. In particular, the quantity of negative stories about President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife has decreased to a certain extent. There was also an incomprehensibl

ViewpointsOct. 24, 2024

If someone says that they are both a progressive and a conservative, or leftwing and rightwing, we may think that they are a sly opportunist, a hopelessly contradictory person, or a case of dissociative identity disorder. Not anymore. Today, a perfectly normal person can become such a broadminded person who can cross the border between the two and embrace them, if they have courage and capacity. Moreover, they are an ideal person we need in order to build a non-polarized, better society. The ren

ViewpointsOct. 23, 2024

For the past decade, the United States has been mired in a repetitive, pointless conversation about “voter fraud,” helped in no small part by Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine voters’ faith in the electoral process. During the presidential debate with Kamala Harris in early September, Trump insisted that he was the true winner of the 2020 election, and he has repeatedly hinted that he will not accept the election results this November if they are not in his favor. Since

ViewpointsOct. 23, 2024

About two years ago, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s economy hit a roadblock. As all sectors underwent deleveraging, economic growth slowed, household savings rates increased and businesses scaled back their investments and accumulated savings. Many now wonder whether consumers and companies are stuck in a self-reinforcing cycle of declining spending and falling prices, which would have the pernicious effect of increasing the real value of debt. For a long time, the gove

ViewpointsOct. 22, 2024

By Choe Ju-weon Director general of Korean National Police Agency Future Policing Policy Bureau Visitors to South Korea are often astonished by how safe the country feels -- whether walking around at any time of the day or leaving a phone or wallet unattended in a cafe. Korea ranks well on numerous recent global safety rankings for personal security, and many cite the country’s stable public safety as a reason for living here. This sense of security stems from the high, law-abiding spirit

ViewpointsOct. 21, 2024

Yeomyung School is where young North Korean refugees are wrapped in hope. Yeomyung means “the light of dawn.” It embodies hope for the dawning of unification. Perhaps its students will end up being the vanguards of unification as cross-border guides. But nowadays, accusations and provocations are eroding hopes. Of course, the Korean Peninsula is no stranger to bombast and hyperbole. For the authorities on both sides, verbal exchanges have been not much more than brinkmanship to gain

ViewpointsOct. 21, 2024

After years of being a proud conservative Republican, you really weren’t happy when you realized some time ago that your patriotic party had somehow morphed into a hero-worshiping cult. But “Make America Great Again” at least made it sound like it was still your kind of place. So you stayed. Even though the mean-spirited, name-calling, threats and lies of Trump Republicans wasn’t really your thing. But in the last couple of weeks the Great News Funnel has been pouring all

ViewpointsOct. 21, 2024