In a recent poll, US President George W. Bush had a job approval rating of 36 percent. About a month ago, President Chen Shui-bian (
Both Bush and Chen had several things in common in their presidential elections. They were first elected in 2000 with small margins, but they were re-elected in 2004. Their victories were challenged with strong protests, ballot recounts and even litigation.
With their poor job approval ratings, both presidents have to worry about the possible defeats of their parties in the midterm elections at the end of this year, and in the presidential elections in 2008. President Bush has to cope mainly with the "four I's" -- Iraq, Iran, Immigration and Information. On the other hand, Chen has to tackle the "four C's" -- China, Corruption, Confrontation and the Constitution. As the "Son of Taiwan," Chen must above all save Taiwan politically and economically without letting it fall into communist hands. Time is running out and Chen has to be creative and proactive.
According to the same recent US poll, the job approval rating of the US Congress was 22 percent, even worse than Bush's 36 percent. The Taiwanese legislature has long been known as a "source of chaos." It would be helpful to have a poll about the job performance of this notorious legislature. People in Taiwan will continue to suffer if their legislators cannot improve their job performance. Voters are partly responsible for the behavior of their representatives.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
The conflict in the Middle East has been disrupting financial markets, raising concerns about rising inflationary pressures and global economic growth. One market that some investors are particularly worried about has not been heavily covered in the news: the private credit market. Even before the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, global capital markets had faced growing structural pressure — the deteriorating funding conditions in the private credit market. The private credit market is where companies borrow funds directly from nonbank financial institutions such as asset management companies, insurance companies and private lending platforms. Its popularity has risen since
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