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Clive Crook
For Clive Crook's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
The massive Gemini fiasco unveils critical questions about artificial intelligence's role and accountability in decision-making.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2024
Google’s bad Gemini rollout did the world a favor
Part of the difficulty in grappling with AI’s full implications is the huge effort that has gone into devising models that express themselves like humans.
U.S. President Joe Biden announces new provisions in March 2022 requiring the government to buy more made-in-America goods.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2024
Biden doesn’t get why we need the WTO
What do Biden and Trump have in common? Protectionism. As a result, the 13th WTO ministerial conference underway in Abu Dhabi is doomed to fail.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2022
Want a better IRS? Simplify the tax code
The biggest problem facing the IRS isnu2019t bad management or a lack of resources, but the metastasizing complexity of the tax rules it must administer.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2019
Britain's next great Brexit mistake
A short delay before the U.K. leaves the EU won't work — Brexit should be canceled.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2019
Where is the European Union's Brexit policy?
The U.K. has set a new standard for political paralysis — but the EU has little to boast about.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2017
Leaving the EU doesn't have to be a disaster
A friendly parting between the U.K. and EU is still possible, and in both sides' best interests.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2016
Why Trump might be good president
Expectations of Trump are so low in the minds of many Americans that small acts of civility and moderation will seem like remarkable achievements.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2016
The Brexit question that nobody has asked
Is Britain's less-than-full-hearted commitment to the European adventure best pursued as an increasingly anomalous member of a broken EU or as a concerned and friendly neighbor?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2016
U.S. stance on Britain and the EU is hypocritical
U.S. President Barack Obama might at least pay the British the courtesy of understanding their distinctively American ideas about sovereignty.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2015
Europe's messiah complex
Britain's debate over its membership of the European Union is bound to end badly because whatever U.K. voters decide, they'll come to regret it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2015
Climate and the Volkswagen scandal
But there are several scandals swirling around Volkswagen's emissions malfeasance, and the most important may be European governments' passion for diesel over gasoline.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2015
What if the 2008 crisis comes around again?
The obstacles to effective remedies for a major economic crisis would be formidable, but more political than economic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2015
Stand back: China's bubble will burst
The bursting of China's stock-market bubble could conceivably deflate the myth that what Beijing commands of the economy shall be so. And who knows where that might lead.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2015
Britain's strange silence on Europe
Britain's election was supposed to be about the nation's future in the European Union, but the issue is being given short shrift by both Labour and the Conservatives.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 20, 2015
The poverty of American presidential politics
The time, effort and money that will be poured into the battle for the U.S. presidency are enormous, but the difference the outcome will make is limited.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2015
Feckless Europe kowtows to China on AIIB
Europe's decision to support the AIIB over U.S. objections reflects its own weakness more than America's.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2015
Criminals, frauds taught capitalists about trust
The history of markets is, in part, the history of lying, cheating and stealing — and efforts to fight commercial crime.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2015
Lee Kuan Yew and the myth of Asian capitalism
Singapaore's Lee Kuan Yew thought a competent meritocratic government should not only provide order but also guide economic development. The success of "Asian capitalism" seems to prove him correct.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2015
Who'll prevail in the Greece-Europe face-off?
The immediate danger of a run on Greek banks may have eased, but could resume at any point. Neither Europe nor Greece has caved to the other's economic demands because nothing is decided.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2015
Washington suffers from a tolerance problem
For the next two years, the chances are good that the U.S. government will be almost completely paralyzed.

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A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world