A series of essays on the global economy, U.S. economy and foreign policy, and Asian economics and politics, which appeared in prominent newspapers and journals from 1996 to 2002. The essays in this book were written between the end of 1996 and the middle of 2001, and published in prominent newspapers and journals. The book is divided into three sections: The Global Economy, The U.S. Economy and Foreign Policy, and Asian Economics and Politics. The author is a strong, but not uncritical, adherent of free and competitive markets, and of market mechanisms rather than government intervention to address economic problems. He is skeptical and critical of U.S. efforts, however well intentioned, to intervene in politically charged, ethnically complex, and murky conflict environment. He is inclined toward restarting cross-Strait discussions between Mainland China and Taiwan. Finally, he tries to envisage the economic and military directions in which particular countries or regions are moving, and what the movements portend for the future.