Opinion

  First, the sandpaper-tongue US president called him a “smart cookie.” Then Trump says he is open to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if conditions allow. Although Trump has made many policy U-turns, this is a classic one and steeped into irony. “If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be …

  Bret Stephens of the New York Times made a splash the other day with a column questioning the scientific consensus on climate change. Stephens didn’t cite any skeptical research papers or alternative theories — his doubt was based purely on distrust of those who make confident predictions. We live in a world in which data convey authority. But authority …

  Emmanuel Macron looks on course to become France’s new president, ending the threat of a euroskeptic at the Elysee. Even if Macron wins, though, it’ll be too soon to celebrate a new phase of stability in the euro zone. Across the Alps, an economic and political storm is brewing — and there’s no sign anyone can stop it. Italy’s …

  The United States is a land of diminished economic prospects. Today the recession is over but the slowdown isn’t: The most recent projections by the Federal Reserve imply future growth in output per head of barely 1 percent a year. That matters for many reasons. For one thing, as Benjamin Friedman argued in “The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth,” …

  Leaked details of a dinner conversation between UK Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker suggest that the Brexit talks won’t just be contentious — they’ll be brutal. At this point, the perception helps May as much as it does the EU leaders. After the June election in the UK, however, May will be at a …

  Statements by two leaders in opposite hemispheres could help explain an announcement Tuesday that Infosys Ltd., the Indian outsourcing giant, will hire 10,000 American workers over the next two years. We believe jobs should be offered to American workers firstand. This will be the last year when we can be ahead of the curve in technology … Two years …

  Finally, thankfully, the first 100 days of the Trump presidency have passed. This meaningless standard for judging a president can now fade into oblivion, where it belongs, and where it will remain for at least another four years. Maybe the passage of the 100-day mark will allow both the president and those who write about him (which includes, of …

  In the latest attempt to strengthen his grip on power, the beleaguered Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered for writing a new constitution. The socialist leader’s call for a constitutional assembly has further angered his opponents whose relentless campaign to oust him has brought hundreds of thousands into the streets demanding his removal. The move comes two days after …

  It’s been almost three years since Narendra Modi took over as prime minister of India—but, in many ways, it feels longer. Modi’s domination of Indian politics, and of Indians’ imagination, is complete; no alternative seems possible, every challenger has been defeated. But bad economics has a habit of catching up with its practitioners eventually. And for all his political …

  Singapore Airlines Ltd. likes to project a certain consistency. Its female flight attendants wear a uniform that hasn’t significantly changed since the airline’s founding. The shares have traded for several years at an almost fixed price of S$10 apiece. And its board hardly ever takes on a cent of net debt. That’s about to change, Abhishek Vishnoi of Bloomberg …