Catherine Rampell

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del autor incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de diciembre de 2006. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

People walk near the Central Business District during evening rush hour in Beijing on Aug. 14. (Andy Wong/AP)

MundoAsia

The latest news from China is ominous. A range of indicators suggests that Beijing is facing economic headwinds. Growth has failed to meet expectations. Foreign investment is sagging. The ever-crucial housing market is soft. Companies and government institutions are struggling under mounds of debt. On Thursday, the giant property developer China Evergrande filed for bankruptcy. On top of all this comes news that the economy has entered deflation — raising fears of a downward spiral of the type that crippled mighty Japan in the 1990s.

What does it all mean? We asked our columnists to weigh in.

Sebastian Mallaby: Demographics are destiny

The deep cause of China’s economic slowdown — and the strongest reason to believe it will be lasting — is its demographic collapse.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa

If there’s a broader lesson to be gleaned from Britain’s economic crisis, it’s this: Beware politicians glibly promising that they — and they alone — know better than the experts.

Prime Minister Liz Truss and her allies promised that when she came into office, she would fix the economy by ditching “the stale economic orthodoxy” and “so-called abacus economics”. This sort of rhetoric has become common among populist politicians — including in the United States — who portray themselves as freethinkers by bashing the ominous-sounding “establishment” or “elites”.

Or, you know: those annoying, bean-counting, possibly on-the-take experts.

Since Truss unveiled a mini-budget Friday, Britain’s currency has been in free fall, with the pound hitting an all-time low against the dollar Monday.…  Seguir leyendo »

A center for refugees from Ukraine is set up in Dorohusk, Poland, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24. (Janek Skarzynski/AFP/Getty Images)

Europa, , , ,

The greatest displacement of European people since the aftermath of World War II could soon be underway. The United States and other allies need to prepare now before this becomes the massive humanitarian crisis so many fear.

Doing so is in Ukrainian refugees’ interests — and America’s.

The United States has offered many soaring words of support for Ukrainians whose homeland is under siege. It has also levied some sanctions on those doing the sieging. But neither will be much comfort to the many desperate Ukrainians already fleeing their homes, flooding highways, trains and bus stations.

U.S. officials have said the Russian invasion could displace as many as 5 million Ukrainians.…  Seguir leyendo »

People walk to the Kabul airport to flee Afghanistan on Aug. 16. (Stringer/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo, ,

We must get our Afghan allies out and onto U.S. soil. As many as possible, as quickly as possible, in however little time is left.

Despite the chaos at the Kabul airport, we cannot abandon the loyal friends the Taliban has already begun to slaughter.

For most of the two decades the United States has been in Afghanistan, we have failed our Afghan allies. We promised, repeatedly, to take care of those who aided our efforts to build a free, democratic state. We created special categories of visas to help Afghans who put targets on their backs by working as interpreters, cultural advisers, drivers and engineers, as well as in other critical support jobs.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

Al mismo tiempo que las hospitalizaciones alcanzaron una nueva cima el martes 24 de noviembre en Estados Unidos, el presidente Donald Trump llamó a una conferencia de prensa para presumir otro récord: el índice de la Bolsa de Valores.

El Promedio Industrial Dow Jones, graznó, había sobrepasado los 30,000 puntos. “Ese es un número sagrado: 30,000”, dijo.

Fue una declaración bizarra, incluso viniendo de Trump. Después de todo, ha argumentado durante años que las ganancias bursátiles que ocurren después de una elección presidencial deberían atribuírsele al nuevo presidente electo, no al tipo que va de salida. En realidad, ni el presidente ni el presidente electo tienen control sobre los mercados bursátiles, por supuesto.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

El expresidente estadounidense Richard Nixon dijo la famosa frase “la gente tiene que saber si su presidente es un estafador o no. Bueno, yo no soy un estafador”. Ese comentario no se trataba sobre Watergate, sino sobre algún asunto raro en sus declaraciones de impuestos. Bajo presión pública, Nixon al final publicó esas declaraciones, revelando un importante pago insuficiente en sus impuestos. Eso motivó la creación de una nueva norma para la divulgación de impuestos, al menos parcial, que todos sus sucesores cumplieron.

Hasta el actual presidente, Donald Trump, claro.

Y la razón podría ser evidente ahora. El escandaloso reportaje del 27 de septiembre realizado por The New York Times —basado en la revisión de miles de registros fiscales personales y comerciales— sugiere que Trump, al igual que su deshonrado predecesor Nixon, participó en una gran cantidad de actividades financieras que también parecen ser estafas.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesNuevas Tecnologías,

So you've sworn off Scrabulous. You've given up on poking and SuperPoking. Never again shall you be newsfed, attacked by Zombies or be one of 1 million strong. You're done with seeing your friends' exhibitionism, and you're done with exhibiting yourself.

In other words, you've given up Facebook.

But as recent articles have pointed out, even if you "deactivate" your account, Facebook holds on to your profile data. This disclosure has gotten privacy groups and consumers up in arms. All the commotion about how Facebook hoards outgoing users' data got me wondering whether we're missing the more important privacy question: What happens to all the data we active members choose to delete, for privacy reasons or otherwise?…  Seguir leyendo »