OPINION

SAN FRANCISCO – The release of the Chinese DeepSeek-R1 large language model, with its impressive capabilities and low development cost, shocked financial markets and led to claims of a “Sputnik moment” in artificial intelligence. But a powerful, innovative Chinese model achieving parity with US products should come as no surprise. It is the predictable …

By Terry Lynn Karl STANFORD – Los Angeles has been burning for almost two weeks now, and the blame game is in full swing. From diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and artificial-intelligence data centers to the mismanagement of public resources by political leaders, fingers seem to be pointed in every …

By Angela Bandemehr & Albert Park WASHINGTON, DC/MANILA – Lead is everywhere, often hiding in plain sight – in the water you drink, the air you breathe, the food you eat, your personal care products, and your children’s toys. Despite being a useful metal, it is highly toxic and difficult to detect: …

By Ruti Teitel NEW YORK – US President-elect Donald Trump clearly does not intend to pursue a “good neighbor” policy. He has been mocking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by calling him ‘governor’ while proclaiming that a country of 40 million people should become the 51st US state. His first …

By Aasim M. Husain KARACHI – Pakistan’s long history of fiscal mismanagement has saddled the country with a crushing debt burden. Interest payments on the public debt consume a staggering 60% of government revenue. And external-debt repayments coming due over the next five years amount to nearly $70 billion, dwarfing …

By Mark LaPrairie In the late 1980s, one of my students at a school in eastern Bhutan, a grade 7 boy, was teasingly called “Pho-ley Mo-ley” by other students. He had a feminine walk, soft voice and made facial and hand gestures like a girl. Today, he would likely identify …

By Gernot Wagner NEW YORK – Elections are supposed to clarify policy uncertainties, and on the economic front, Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris has done just that. All three major US stock indices and US Treasury yields jumped the morning after Election Day, reflecting expectations of both strong economic growth and …

By John Mark Hansen CHICAGO – I teach a course at the University of Chicago on presidential elections, and I hear the same kind of question from friends on both the right and the left. The Republicans I grew up with in western Kansas cannot understand why Donald Trump is …

By Yangchen C. Rinzin The media is regarded as the fourth pillar of the state, playing a crucial role in keeping the public informed and enabling them to make informed decisions. The Constitution safeguards the freedoms of speech and information signifying media has a vital role in a democracy. News …

By Philippe Aghion , Mathias Dewatripont and Jean Tirole PARIS – In the three decades after World War II, Western Europe caught up with the United States in terms of per capita GDP. But since the mid-1990s, this trend has reversed, with the US growing twice as fast as Europe. …