With the US Congress set to tackle the next phase of economic relief this month, Thursday’s jobs report provided more evidence of how much permanent damage is being done to the labor market by the coronavirus pandemic. The number of workers being permanently laid off continues to grow even as millions of Americans who were furloughed have gone back to work. Expectations for how long it will take to get the labor market back to where it was at the beginning of the year are fluid, but some,

After the Great Recession, the American economy rebounded faster and stronger than the eurozone, raising doubts over the effectiveness of the “European social model.” As Europe emerges from the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in better shape than the US, its combination of welfare states and strong public health systems suddenly seems appealing again. The US is still struggling to contain outbreaks in several states from Texas to Florida, whose health care systems are being push

Plenty of people will tell you that the unrest spreading through the US is rooted in inequality -- in the dissatisfaction of the 99 percent. But what if it’s not that simple? What if there’s also an important battle going on within the 1 percent? For the sake of the nation’s survival, it’s worth considering. No doubt, people are angry. According to a recent Pew survey, 87 percent of Americans say they’re dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. Pa

Recently, a friend sent me a succinct but powerful essay written by Lee Jung-woong, a former TBC producer, on the topic, “What is America to us?” The friend who thoughtfully sent me this essay wrote that she read it many times and every time she read it, she felt ashamed of not being grateful enough to the American soldiers who died for us during the Korean War. While reading the heart-rending essay, I, too, felt ashamed. Based on the testimony of the late Gen. Chae Mying-shin, Lee

As the number of COVID-19 cases starts to rise again in many states, the question is whether residents of those states will tolerate another lockdown. I used to think so, but it is increasingly clear that Americans have become comfortable with a remarkably high number of casualties. There is a mechanism of social conformity at work here. Most people will not tolerate a small risk to their lives to dine out, for instance -- but they might if all their friends are doing the same. The appeal of a

US President Donald Trump is furious at Germany for many reasons, not all of them fathomable. In phone conversations with Angela Merkel, he’s allegedly called the German chancellor “stupid” and denigrated her in “near-sadistic” tones. Though this be madness, there is -- on rare occasions -- method in it. One such case is Nord Stream 2. It is an almost-finished gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany, running next to the original Nord Stream. &l

Although it seems like ancient history, it hasn’t been that long since economies around the world began to close down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the crisis, most people anticipated a quick V-shaped recovery, on the assumption that the economy merely needed a short timeout. After two months of tender loving care and heaps of money, it would pick up where it left off. It was an appealing idea. But now it is July, and a V-shaped recovery is probably a fantasy. The post-p