DUBLIN --CONGRESS might be at loggerheads, the unemployment rate might be too high and America's infrastructure might be crumbling -- but Americans of all political viewpoints comfort themselves with the notion that at least they lead the world in high technology and always will. It's a pleasing, convenient idea. China can't outrun the United States,... Read More

Tokyo--DESPITE some small signs of optimism about the United States economy, unemployment is still high, and the country seems stalled. Time and again, Americans are told to look to Japan as a warning of what the country might become if the right path is not followed, although there is intense disagreement about what that path... Read More

NY Times, August 11, 2011 A debate between five economists on “Why Aren’t Germans Protesting?” Rightly Disgusted at the Banks A bailout, like any other government expenditure, is a tax. Someone must pay all this money. And it is unfair to tax the broad population to pay for a special interest. Instead of being a... Read More

In his defense of bilingual education programs ("The Voters' Prerogatives and Bilingual Education," Lessons column, Oct. 23), Richard Rothstein implies that previous generations of European immigrants would have greatly benefited by spending the first five to seven years of their schooling in classes taught mostly in Italian, Yiddish or Greek, as is called for under... Read More

I agree with the general sentiments of "Repairing Bilingual Education" (editorial, Dec. 22), but you are wrong to recommend reforming the system in New York City rather than replacing it with English immersion. English immersion is not "sink or swim" — that would be submersion. Instead, sheltered English immersion provides special classes in which English... Read More

The other day I needed to track down a quotation. I was writing an article about Taiwan and I wanted a few words to illustrate Mao Tse-tung's attitude to the island. (He favored its independence — no kidding.) I recalled seeing a suitable reference in The Economist at the time of the last Taiwan crisis,... Read More

In Tom Wicker’s Jan. 13 column, the Rev. Allan Boesak was characterized as a white South African champion of black rights, recently jailed for his efforts. This is incorrect. Mr. Boesak, a founder of the United Democratic Front, is actually a colored (mixed-race) South African. This is significant because it underscores the South African Government’s... Read More