The LDP Saga

The Financial Times yesterday finally published a graphic previewing the Aug. 30 Japanese general election, in which the mainstay Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will likely lose power in most convincing fashion since 1955. I did the bulk of the research for the graphic and am happy it came out OK!

You can view it here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ce4c5268-8745-11de-9280-00144feabdc0.html

Call centers to plowshares

In the last couple of weeks, new developments have shown that drought has severely impacted India's agricultural sector. But this has failed to grab major headlines until recently, when the situation became especially dire.

The situation should call attention to the still-pressing needs of India's farmers, who are less able to benefit from the economic expansion that has made India an emerging hub for call centers, software development and other "business processes." India largely remains an agricultural country - agriculture, forestry and fishing account for 17 percent of GDP - and should therefore promote the development in rural areas as much as it should focus on its "knowledge" sector, which generates more wealth and investment but also employs far fewer people.