Homicide in Los Angeles is on the rise again. Before accepting any of the canned explanations, we ought to take a closer look. Once we know what's really going on, we have a chance to design strategies that work.
What is today's news is that South Korea's economy has recovered but has not been restructured, the opening to the North is stuck, with no sign that Kim Jong Il's visit to Seoul is imminent, and the country is trapped in political gridlock.
A prerequisite to ensuring that U.S. resources are focused where they can have the most effect is a sober and empirical understanding of the terrorist threat, coupled with comprehensive and coherent strategy.
When U.S. policymakers contemplate intervention abroad, they should do so with abundant humility, if not timidity, because of the profoundly uncertain connections between the blunt instruments they can use and the complex ends they seek.
Implementing a modest catastrophic benefit with low-income subsidies would provide valuable insurance to the Medicare population. It also would provide a fiscally prudent alternative, allowing policymakers to better gauge future program costs and beneficiary behavior.
Incentives may be effective if they target the right outcomes and encourage the right behaviors, but this set of tests and rewards has shortcomings on both fronts.
Like everyone else concerned with Asia, Australia also is taking a hard look at China's future, as well as at Washington's approach to it. It's not clear that Canberra and Washington see eye to eye.
