economic freedom

Napoleon famously cautioned against interfering with an enemy making a mistake. So why is the West interfering with Vladimir Putin’s massive mistake in Crimea? More puzzling is the West’s unstated goal of legitimizing Putin’s Crimea grab.

Putin’s mistake? Some in the media are lionizing Putin as a strategic genius, running circles around the West. Yet, Putin could have gotten Crimea with a please-and-thank-you and looked like a humanitarian hero. Instead, he’s viewed as a threatening thug, with long-term negative consequences for Russia.

To optimists, the arrest in Mexico this week of the world's most wanted drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, and Mexico’s bloody drug war generally, are proof that the Mexican government is standing up to the cartels. But pessimists look at Mexico and see a failing state on America’s border.

More than 80,000 people have been killed in Mexico’s brutal conflict, with the victims beheaded, shot, tortured and worse. Civil authorities regularly quit or join up with the warlords, and entire towns have been depopulated as government forces and warlords vie for control.

"Travel", said Francis Bacon, "is part of education for the young and a part of experience for those who are older." But there is an additional benefit from a journey outside of one's own borders: a reminder of why certain places function better than others.

In a recent trip to Hong Kong, I met with a plethora of civil servants, some politicians and a few business people, all with an obvious interest in the future of that territory. My purpose was simple: to get a sense of how that territory has held up in the face of massive change occurring in China proper.