Opinion

  When making a decision such as whether to hire, insure or lend to someone, is more data better? Actually, when it comes to fairness, the opposite is often true. Consider a recent Harvard Business Review experiment, which involved sending 316 fake applications to the largest U.S. law firms. All the applicants were among the top 1 percent of students …

  Beijing had the best of intentions when it started to promote all-electric taxis in 2011. Not only would the green cars reduce the city’s choking pollution, but they’d highlight its commitment to becoming a center of innovation. There was just one problem: cold weather. Electric cars lose their charge quickly when temperatures drop, reducing their range, utility and — …

  The same may be true of the economy. So says Tyler Cowen, author of the new book “The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream.” Although we’ve recovered from the Great Recession, there are widespread fears that the economy will stagnate or grow only slowly. Government won’t be able to handle the next crisis, whether a war, …

  If you want an example of the threat faced by the U.S. from an emerging China, look no further than Xiaomi Corp. The electronics manufacturer has made the bold move into designing its own smartphone chips. Of the vast variety of semiconductors that reach the market every year, it’s those processors used in mobile phones that are among the …

  National security adviser is not a position requiring congressional approval. But because President Donald Trump’s new choice to fill the job, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, wants to continue as a high-ranking active-duty officer, the Senate needs to approve his appointment. It should use the opportunity to hold a hearing and invite McMaster to elaborate on his vision of the …

  After almost a week of meetings, diplomats and negotiators representing Syrian regime and opposition factions in the UN-mediated talks appear to have made modest achievements. The latest round of Syria talks in Geneva was centred on setting agenda for future talks, which could bolster opposition demands for a political transition in which Syrian President Bashar Assad would have to …

  March is likely to see at least four key Brexit battles, whose outcome will frame the next two years of negotiations as Britain and the remaining 27 EU members wrangle over their future relationship. Here’s the rundown. THE LORDS Prime Minister Theresa May would undoubtedly prefer Brexit to be under way by March 25, when the remaining members of …

  What use would a country with more people over the age of 70 than under 20 have with amusement parks? More than you might think. U.S. cable giant Comcast Corp. certainly seems to think so, judging by its decision to spend $2.3 billion buying full control of Universal Studios Japan. Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit previously paid $1.5 billion for 51 …

  Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates made a splash in a recent interview, when he suggested that robots should be taxed in order to help humans keep their jobs. Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, social security tax, all those things. If …

  Donald Trump boasts that his “America First” trade and economic policies are bringing well-paid manufacturing jobs back to America. That’s probably his biggest “deliverable” to Trump voters. But is this claim true? Trump won the presidency partly because he voiced the anger of American workers about lost jobs and stagnant wages. But in the process, he fundamentally misled the …