Opinion

  The twin shortages plaguing the U.S. in 2016 — a shortage of cheap service labor, and a shortage of affordable housing — are products of the same little-noticed trend: For decades, the education level of immigrants has been rising. A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled “The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration” …

  Marriage counsellors tell us that couples frequently tie the knot without discussing the core matters that can cement or sunder their marriage: finances, children, religion. Well, let me add one under-discussed biggie to the list: restaurant dining. I am eternally astonished to find not only that many couples I know failed to discuss this key area before they marched …

  Rosy Scenario is alive and well. There is a long and dubious tradition among politicians of projecting high — usually unrealistic — rates of economic growth as a way of avoiding unpopular political choices. We can do everything, because rapid growth and torrents of tax revenues will pay the bills. That’s Rosy’s message, and Donald Trump has eagerly embraced …

Wall Street equity analysts sure are a gloomy lot these days. Based on the average estimate of forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg, they expect the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to finish the year 1 percent lower than yesterday’s close. This is noteworthy because it’s so out of character. Most of the time — 82 percent during the past decade, to …

  For a few years it seemed that Americans were moving to the cities, but now the trends are toward the suburbs once again. Long-turn trends favor suburbs even more. THE SHARING ECONOMY One reason is the rise of Uber and other ride-sharing services. Uber helps users virtually everywhere, but in cities there are subways and buses and walking might …

  British Prime Minister Theresa May announced during the ruling Conservative party’s annual meeting on Sunday that the UK will start the Brexit process before April 2017. There has been mounting pressure on her to expedite the departure from the European Union. Since she assumed office, May had been playing her cards close to her chest — being quite ambiguous …

  It seems like forever we’ve been hearing about the decline of the Rust Belt, and people migrating to the West Coast. But why? Why did manufacturing decline in the Midwest? Why are rents so high in California, and house prices surging in the Pacific Northwest? Why does the U.S. population continue to move slowly from East to West? Part …

The New York Times reported that advisers to Donald Trump “plan to more rigorously prepare him for his next face-off with Hillary Clinton by drilling the Republican nominee on crucial answers, facts and counterattacks, and by coaching him on ways to whack Mrs. Clinton on issues even if he is not asked about them.” Good luck, guys. Debates are correctly …

  If you’ve ever wondered how Secretary of State John Kerry’s understands diplomacy, the waiting is over. On Thursday, at the Aspen Institute’s Washington Ideas Forum, Steve Clemons of the Atlantic pried it out of America’s top diplomat: What exactly is the “John Kerry secret sauce?” There are interests and values, Kerry told the audience. “You may have tension with …

  The question about the TPP — the Trans-Pacific Partnership, President Obama’s signature trade agreement — is whether it’s already gone to the political morgue or whether it’s still in intensive care. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump oppose the agreement, while the president has urged ratification. With Obama’s term ending and his already-modest influence eroding by the day, TPP …