I find it very difficult to cry. It’s not like I forgot how – I still cry during sad movies. But for some reason, I can’t cry for myself. I couldn’t even shed a single tear when my grandmother died last summer after a decade-long illness. It’s like someone turned off the tap for my […]

Former Minister Mauricio Cardenas responded to the questions formulated by LAPJ Editor-in-Chief Cesar Pabon on 25 January 2020. What follows is a lightly edited transcript. LAPJ: What are your views on the current state of the emerging protests that have spread across most Latin American countries? The protests exhibit a combination of both shared and […]

How do you think the common challenges of Latin America have changed in the past twenty years? In the early 2000s we were discussing the middle-income trap and how to deal with the dependency of commodities of Latin America. One of the aspects that has changed in the last twenty years has been the perception […]

It’s commonly known that love springs…in the spring. Perhaps you had plans to finally make that move at spring formal or on the boat cruise, but got covid-blocked?…or perhaps you knew that once you submitted your PAE, you would most definitely find your BAE. Whatever your case is, The Citizen is here to help you […]

Quad Research conducted a survey from 1-4 April 2020 on Singaporeans’ perceptions on a range of societal issues and how their views impact their political choices. This executive summary details some of their research findings.

Two deadly epidemics threaten the lives of Americans. Both have cost too many of us our loved ones, imposed relentless burdens on our healthcare professionals, and affected all communities, while disproportionately harming communities of color.  The first is a global threat that originated in nature and will take all the scientific prowess and ingenuity we […]

Diet-related diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States. Poor diet is associated with ailments such as heart disease, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes, which together kill nearly 678,000 Americans annually — a number that far exceeds current projected deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S.[i] Having worked in both the farming and […]

In recent years, the political discourse in Germany has been critical of the European Union and its institutions. This includes harsh criticism of the European Central Bank (ECB) regarding its response to the Euro crisis. One focal point of this criticism related to the ECB’s purchases of government debt, particularly its program of “Outright Monetary […]

In approximately 500 B.C., The Greek city of Sybaris encouraged inventors to register their creations with a grant of monopoly for one year. Thus began human civilization’s practice of patenting, a system that is now synonymous with free markets. Now as the world waits with bated breath for a pharmaceutical lab to develop a vaccine […]

In 2008, freshman Senator Barack Obama defied the odds to win the Democratic nomination for president against former first lady and two-term Senator Hillary Clinton. When the time came for Obama to select his vice presidential candidate, it was speculated he would choose Clinton. Choosing a former competitor who came runner up in the primary […]

COVID-19 exposes injustice in the workforce. Frances Perkins offers a model to fix it. We are only beginning to understand the economic repercussions of COVID-19. In less than two months, more than 30 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits, eliminating all of the jobs gained since the 2007-2009 Great Recession. The pandemic has brought unprecedented […]

Poh Yong Han argues that while addressing poor dormitory and food standards for migrant workers are important, they merely represent the tip of the iceberg. Unless we tackle the underlying structural issues that explain why migrant workers “consent” to such poor standards (low wages, high agency fees) in the first place, we are not addressing the root cause of the problem. To address them, she proposes setting a Minimum Income Threshold, and enforcing fair recruitment practices. She further suggests reconsidering whether the Work Permit scheme as it stands is even ethical, and asks if current restrictions (such as tying workers to specific employers) need to be loosened, and whether a fairer migrant worker policy would entail providing them with pathways to citizenship or residency.