Political Economy

Indian governments spend enormous resources to collect data — including 12 billion and 22 billion rupees on decennial censuses in 2001 and 2011, respectively. Yet they appear reluctant to release it. The latest decennial census data on religion, for example,...

During Pope Francis’ visit to the United States next week, he will insist that the church transcends partisan politics, and I am sure he means this sincerely. However, that will not prevent his visit from having political ramifications. During Pope...

Another year of presidential campaigns, another round of China bashing. In the wake of China’s stock market crash in August 2015, Republican presidential candidates have turned their attention towards China. Citing China’s ‘active manipulation’ of its economy as contributing to...

In December 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) returned to government after a snap election. At that time, Abe positioned himself to continue as prime minister for another four years until the end of 2018, giving...

In order to improve the effectiveness of development strategies in Indonesia’s Papua province, trust between the central government in Jakarta and the Papua provincial government in Jayapura needs strengthening. The PNPM-RESPEK initiative is a case in point. In order to...

On 11 June 2015, Zhou Yongkang was found guilty of corruption, among other things, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He appeared before a national broadcast to listen to his guilty verdict, express his responsibility in doing harm to the country...

Leadership is one of those things about which it is sometimes wise to be careful what you wish for. Leadership is one of those things about which it is sometimes wise to be careful what you wish for. In the...

The 7 July visit to the White House by Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong signaled just how far the United States and Vietnam have come in the past two decades in moving beyond their ‘difficult history’, as President...

It may seem that after several recent electoral defeats of prominent national dynasts, Asia’s ‘ruling families’ are in decline. However, a closer look suggests that reports of their political deaths are premature. The most prominent recent setback was the crushing...

In the 2016 presidential race, candidates from both major parties are looking for ways to address inequality. Partly, they must do so because seven years after the 2008 crash, many Americans still are not getting ahead, according to several analyses...

The global recognition of the economic prowess of the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has led to the group gaining greater global political influence. But it has also reinforced the regional leadership standing of these...

The House Committee on Appropriations recently adopted a budget for an assortment of financial agencies. Tucked inside the 150-plus pages of legislative prose is a provision denying the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) funding to issue “any rule, regulation, or...

Analysts and scholars – including Chinese economists and social scientists – have long been critical of Beijing’s development strategy in Tibet. A heavy dependence on state subsidies to maintain high levels of economic growth cause economic inefficiencies and social inequalities....

At the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), made her first historic visit to China on 10–14 June 2015. Her visit enhanced understanding between the...

With legislator and Deputy Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu confirmed by the Standing Committee of the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT), the presidential candidates for the two main parties contending for Taiwan’s 2016 election are both women, leading to the foregone conclusion...