Opinion

The queens of the skies have fallen on hard times. As Covid-19 has frozen the international travel on which they once thrived, double-decker, four-engine planes like the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 are more likely to be found in storage than soaring through the skies. Carriers such as Pan Am Corp used the 747 to turn aviation into a global ...

Back in April, Britain’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam told a news conference that the UK’s relative performance in combating the coronavirus would become clear only once there were comparative figures on excess mortality (deaths above a five-year average). Shortly afterward, the government stopped showing charts with comparative death rates altogether. It wasn’t hard to see why: The emerging ...

Joe Biden wants to change the way the Federal Reserve is governed for the first time in four decades. In 1977, Congress set “maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates” as the central bank’s goals. It’s called the dual mandate, since everyone forgets the bit about interest rates. In a recent speech, Biden mentioned the goals of low ...

Last week’s 750 billion-euro ($877 billion) Covid-19 rescue fund marked a high point in the European Union’s plan to tackle the economic fallout of the virus. But a new flare-up in infections on the continent is a grim reminder of the more immediate epidemiological threat. While it’s not a second wave yet, it’s a serious test of government strategies intended ...

Just 10 days ago, I noted that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) earnings and outlook served as proof that it’s truly the global king of chips. Since then, the company has grown even stronger, but more good news also increases the burden and will likely draw far more attention than it’s comfortable with. Being bigger and more indispensable sounds like ...

With a new school year approaching, the US faces an educational crisis. Though the Trump administration wants a full reopening of K-12 schools, not all states and school districts are going along. Millions of students will still attend classes remotely, at least part of the time, and many may stay home until coronavirus vaccines are widely available. Such a prolonged ...

What’s the next step for House Democrats? Senate Republicans have finally agreed internally on their opening bid for the next pandemic economic relief and stimulus bill, but there’s zero chance that the parties can resolve their differences before two imminent deadlines pass: The expanded unemployment insurance payments put in place by bipartisan legislation in March and an eviction ban for ...

When President Donald Trump recently commuted the prison sentence of Roger Stone, his longtime ally and now a convicted felon, reaction on Capitol Hill was swift. Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, the respective chairs of the House of Representatives’ Oversight and Reform and Judiciary committees, promptly issued a joint statement. “By this action, President Trump abused the powers of ...

In the latest example of how the world of brick-and-mortar retail is being overwhelmed by the pandemic, specialty apparel conglomerate Ascena Retail Group Inc — corporate parent of Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and other chains — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said its restructuring plan will allow it to reduce its debt by $1 billion. It also ...

As communities prepare to reopen their public schools, many parents, students and teachers alike worry that it’s still too soon. But the evidence tells us that the longer that physical classrooms stay closed, the less students will learn, and the gap between haves and have-nots will grow even wider. The governor of Florida is being sued by the teachers’ union ...