Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Commentary Aug 19, 2001
George W. Bush and the politics of DNA
NEW YORK — “Today’s overwhelming and bipartisan House action to prohibit human cloning is a strong ethical statement, which I commend.” — George W. Bush, July 31, 2001 I have absolutely no idea whether the cloning of human beings should be banned. Cloning opponents ...
Commentary Jul 22, 2001
Bush places the country on autopilot
NEW ORLEANS — The nation is reeling in the aftermath of a startling revelation from the White House: For the first time in its history, the United States is functioning entirely without an executive branch. “We promised to run the presidency like a business,” ...
Commentary Jul 8, 2001
If you've still got a job, you're a loser
NEW YORK — From 1996 to 1999, everyone who was anyone knew that the Internet was the place to be. People quit perfectly good jobs at profitable corporations because, as everyone knew, profitability was Old School and Old School was bad. They went to ...
Commentary Jun 17, 2001
Bipartisanship is killing American politics
NEW YORK — When I vote for a Democrat, the last thing I worry about is whether he’ll be able to get along with the Republicans. I never consider his ability to reach across the aisle, or his willingness to act in a bipartisan ...
Commentary Feb 18, 2001
This cup of coffee is on George W. Bush
NEW YORK — I admit it: The money’s already spent. I know, I know. I should have waited until that huge GOP windfall actually hit my bank account before going out on a wild tax-cut bender, but I just couldn’t help myself. The mere ...
Commentary Feb 11, 2001
In the land of the militantly mellow
NEW YORK — San Franciscans, if we’re to believe reporters who’ve spent the last week running up their New York employers’ expense accounts, are searching the bottom of their recyclable souls in the aftermath of the death of Diane Whipple. Whipple, 33, was killed ...
Commentary Dec 10, 2000
American democracy teeters on the brink
NEW YORK — There’s plenty of room for reasonable disagreement in this post-election netherworld. The Bushies are right that we need a president-elect and we needed one weeks ago; despite lackadaisical opinion polls and surprising public apathy, the legal maneuvering over recounts can’t go ...
Global-related Jul 9, 2000
The decade that was, and always will be
SAINT-REMY-DE-PROVENCE, France — The full-page ad gracing the back of last week’s Village Voice hit me like a heavy pointy object. “HOT SUMMER TOURS,” the headline blared. As a U.S. citizen residing in the city of New York, I enjoy the golden opportunity to ...
Global-related Jun 25, 2000
Operational advice for New York's finest
NEW YORK — New York’s mayor, a man so relentless that he won’t let prostate cancer get in the way of his horniness, feels sorry for the cops. “It seems like the cops just can’t win no matter what they do,” Rudolph Giuliani complained ...