Washington Post (February 8)
To summarize the state of the nation, “considering all the recent upheaval, it could be a lot worse. Yet it remains deeply divided, and that is itself a long-term threat to U.S. prosperity.” While much as been accomplished, “approximately two-thirds of Americans think the country is on the ‘wrong track.’”
Tags: Accomplished, Deeply divided, Long-term threat, Prosperity, Summarize, U.S., Upheaval, Wrong track
The Economist (March 20)
Last week China slapped down democracy in Hong Kong. The imposition of tight mainland control over the territory is not just a tragedy for the 7.5m people who live there, it is also a measure of China’s determination not to compromise over how it asserts its will.” But China has pressure points. It is “more tightly coupled with the West than communist Russia ever was. This presents the free world with an epoch-defining question: how should it best secure prosperity, lower the risk of war and protect freedom as China rises?”
Tags: China, Communist, Compromise, Control, Democracy, Hong Kong, Imposition, Mainland, Prosperity, Risk, Russia, Territory, War
The Economist (March 9)
“The spread of exotic grains is evidence that globalisation works.” You may mock quinoa and other hip foods, but they are welcome sign “of rising prosperity and expanding choice. The spread of better farming techniques has raised yields, helping humanity feed itself despite a rising population.” In contrast, “plans to erect trade barriers and possibly start a trade war” deserve derision. They “would make the world poorer and hungrier.”
Tags: Exotic grains, Expanding choice, Farming, Globalization, Humanity, Population, Prosperity, Quinoa, Trade barriers, Trade war, Yields
Chicago Tribune (January 25)
Donald Trump “is never more certain than when he is completely clueless. The truth is that protection against foreign trade leads away from prosperity and strength. A country that deprives itself of foreign goods is doing to itself what an enemy might try to do in wartime — cut it off from outside commerce. It is volunteering to impoverish itself.”
Tags: Certain, Clueless, Commerce, Foreign trade, Impoverish, Prosperity, Trump, Truth, Wartime
Chicago Tribune (January 17)
“No one in Europe should ever be induced to wonder if America is on the side of Europe’s free and democratic nations or the menacing, corrupt autocrat in the Kremlin. The military partnerships and economic connections between the United States and Europe deserve a great deal of the credit for the relative peace and prosperity of the postwar era.”
Tags: Autocrat, Corrupt, Democratic, Europe, Free, Kremlin, Military, Partnership, Peace, Prosperity, U.S.
The Economist (June 18)
“A vote to quit the European Union on June 23rd…would do grave and lasting harm to the politics and economy of Britain. The loss of one of the EU’s biggest members would gouge a deep wound in the rest of Europe. And… it would mark a defeat for the liberal order that has underpinned the West’s prosperity.”
Tags: Britain, Defeat, Economy, EU, Liberal order, Politics, Prosperity, Vote
Financial Times (December 30)
“Faced with the choice between the romantic nationalism close to his heart, and the recognition that only bold economic and diplomatic measures can restore his country to prosperity, Mr Abe appears to have listened to his head and chosen the latter.”In reaching a final “comfort women” agreement, “both South Korea and Japan have showed courage, pragmatism and the willingness to risk a domestic backlash. The benefits of this rapprochement should not be underestimated, at a moment when east Asia confronts both opportunity and peril.”
Tags: Abe, Bold measures, Comfort women, Courage, Domestic backlash, Japan, Nationalism, Pragmatism, Prosperity, Rapprochement, Recognition, South Korea
Wall Street Journal (October 7)
“Nine and a half of every 10 of the world’s consumers resides somewhere other than America, so arrangements like the TPP that break down obstacles to trade and investment are crucial to prosperity at home. The question is whether this TPP is the best the U.S. can do.”
Tags: Consumers, Investment, Obstacles, Prosperity, TPP, Trade, U.S.
The Economist (May 16)
The referendum to stay in the EU is “winnable. Over the next year or so Mr Cameron and his chancellor, George Osborne, can probably extract enough from their partners to persuade Britons to vote to stay in. Yet that victory must be just a first step. The real agenda—the one that matters to Britain’s prosperity and to the EU as a whole—will take longer to bear fruit.”
Tags: Cameron, EU, Osborne, Prosperity, Referendum, Victory
The Economist (March 14)
China “is clinging on to low-cost manufacturing, even as it goes upmarket to exploit higher-value activities.” Developing countries shouldn’t expect to “manufacture their way to prosperity” on the back of higher manufacturing costs in China. “Just waiting for higher Chinese wages to push jobs their way is a recipe for failure.”
Tags: China, Developing countries, Higher value, Jobs, Low-cost manufacturing, Prosperity, Upmarket, Wages
