Opinion

The value of the Canadian dollar and the price of oil, one of the nation’s top exports, have both tumbled to near record lows. But those details — and the apparent demise of the Keystone XL pipeline — don’t begin to tell the story of what lies ahead for the economy of Canada, America’s second-largest trading partner. Last year, Canadian …

On Tuesday, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom briefed the UN Security Council on Afghanistan. He launched his remarks by noting that the country is “being as severely tested as it was in 2015.” Afghanistan, Haysom said, faces several challenges: “a contracting economy characterized by low growth and high unemployment; an intensifying insurgency regarded by some as …

Sen. John Cornyn recalls visiting a Texas prison where some inmates taking shop classes could not read tape measures. Cornyn, who was previously a district court judge and Texas Supreme Court justice, knows that prisons are trying to teach literacy and vocations, trying to cope with the mental illnesses of many inmates and trying to take prophylactic measures to prevent …

The EU-Turkey migrant draft deal touted last week as a breakthrough to settle the current refugee crisis faces difficulties, as some EU member states voiced resentment over Ankara’s demands, with Paris and Prague branding Turkey’s approach ‘Blackmail”. EU and Turkish leaders had agreed on a tentative plan that would see new migrants landing in Greece sent back to Turkey. For …

What should the U.S. government do to fight recessions? What should it do to fight slow growth? This is the eternal question of so-called countercyclical policy. The two mainstream ideas are fiscal and monetary stimulus. The fiscal version works by having the government borrow and spend money, either on useful things like infrastructure, or by simply mailing people checks. The …

On Monday, Malaysia’s defense minister Hishammuddin Hussein suggested if reports that China is placing military assets in the Spratlys are true, it would force the Southeast Asian state into a “pushback” against China. “If the reports we’ve received from various sources regarding the buildup and placement of military assets in the Spratlys are true – this forces us in a …

London’s future status as the financial capital of Europe is a key factor in the debate about whether the UK should leave the European Union. It would be a mistake for either side of the argument to underestimate quite how aggressively London’s competitors would attempt to wrest trading revenue away from the UK capital should the June 23 referendum vote …

Economic reforms are much like New Year’s diet resolutions: easily announced and easily forgotten. So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that the pronouncements that have emerged from China’s National People’s Congress — pledges to slash overcapacity, open up the financial system, accept lower growth — echo unfulfilled promises from previous Party gatherings. Still, China prides itself on being different. The …

A little more than a decade ago, Hong Kong was the world’s busiest port. Giant vessels competed to get into the city’s berths, waiting to load and unload containers filled with goods manufactured just over the border in China’s factory towns. Back then, Hong Kong still expected that its freewheeling commercial culture could change China for the better. And trading …

There’s no subtlety about Democrats’ tax plans. Between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, details differ, but the central themes are identical: Soak the rich. To hear Democrats tell it, the country’s main budget problem is that the rich don’t pay their “fair share.” If they did, the fiscal outlook would brighten. We can now test this proposition, because the Clinton …