ANALYSIS & OPINION
Russian investor’s $3 million prize for physics
Do you think cutting-edge scientists should earn as much as star athletes, celebrity artists or Wall Street bankers? The Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner does, and this week he put his money where his heart is.
The Big Smothering State
Governments play a valuable role in industrial economies. But in other matters, the value of the extensive and intrusive state is much more questionable. Both critics and defenders of big government often miss the crucial distinction between economic help and social harm.
The troubled trade deal with South Korea
In March, the United States and South Korea implemented a Free Trade Agreement that President Barack Obama touts as more significant than the last nine such agreements combined. I think the president suffers from irrational trade exuberance.
China’s affluence crisis
The new generation of Chinese leaders, who rise to power this fall, will need to escape the trap of a market that overproduces and focus on the well-being of the Chinese people.
NBC’s Olympic contortions
The network's moves to keep its prime-time TV audience pumped up are more involved than a gymnast’s - and entirely unnecessary. While there is surely an audience for online streaming, there is a massive audience that wants, and will continue to desire, the group hug that is TV.
Social media and the new Cold War
This war does not involve opposing military forces, but competing ideas about how political life should be organized. The battles are between broadcast media outlets and social-media upstarts, and Russia has seen some of the biggest clashes.
How about quantitative easing for the people?
Giving away free money may sound too good to be true or wildly irresponsible, but it is exactly what the Fed and Bank of England have been doing for bond traders and bankers since 2009. Directing QE to the general public would not only be much fairer but also more effective.MOST COMMENTED
Most discussed posts this week
16
commentsThe Big Smothering State
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by Felix Salmon on Thu, Aug 2, 2012, 8:44 PM EDT - Counterparties: A high-frequency Knightmare
by Ben Walsh on Thu, Aug 2, 2012, 5:44 PM EDT - Russian investor’s $3 million prize for physics
by Chrystia Freeland on Thu, Aug 2, 2012, 5:10 PM EDT - The people’s business is none of our business
by Joshua Spivak on Thu, Aug 2, 2012, 4:26 PM EDT
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commentsWhy Romney can’t defend capitalism