'New firms are created to serve the economy of which they are part'

'It's India's fault local startups are trailing China'

Mihir Sharma at Bloomberg

Indian "officials often complain that legacy companies, especially in manufacturing, aren't investing enough, but are happy to present these new players as a success story," says Mihir Sharma. But if "India's startups aren't in the same sectors as China's, the fault lies with the economy and its stewards — with, in fact, the government." India's startups are "simply responding to the fact that growth in India is driven by consumer demand and not industrial production."

Read more

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'Katy Perry really went to space. It's the most Katy Perry thing she's done yet.'

Kofi Mframa at USA Today

Katy Perry "just went to space, and the whole thing feels kinda … whatever," says Kofi Mframa. Why "should we care about Perry and friends' space odyssey?" This is "all spectacle. The media fanfare, the celebrities selected — it's all meant to act as an intergalactic billboard for Blue Origin." It "seems like our tech overlords' obsession with space is motivated less by a love of technology and more by the potential of escaping a planet they've mined."

Read more

'Arms control is not dead yet'

Rose Gottemoeller at Foreign Affairs

Nuclear "arms control is dying," says Rose Gottemoeller. The U.S. "could face two nuclear powers, Russia and China, deploying similar numbers of nuclear warheads." They "could together threaten a first strike against which the United States would not have enough weapons to respond." If the U.S. "can successfully reengage with Russia to sustain nuclear parity and engage for the first time with China to control nuclear risks, the three countries can avoid a Cold War-style nuclear arms race."

Read more

'Texas should ban sugary drinks on food stamps'

Victoria Eardley at The Dallas Morning News

Food stamp "spending on unhealthful food isn't just a medical and moral crisis," says Victoria Eardley. It's "also a monetary crisis for taxpayers." The "numbers are so high, in part, because using food stamps encourages people to buy unhealthful food." This is a "vicious cycle in which taxpayers are helping to ruin people's health." A recent bill "would help lower-income Texans make healthful choices, while protecting every Texas taxpayer from both fueling and treating a health crisis."

Read more