Opinion

Risk assets across the globe, despite already high valuations, have recovered impressively from a sell-off triggered by concerns about a North Korean nuclear attack. In doing so, they have again highlighted the extent to which traders and investors—highly confident about the environment they operate in (be it economic, financial or institutional)— have developed endogenous stabilizers. And while there is a …

If President Donald Trump really wants to light up the Twittersphere, what should he write about? White supremacists? The wall? Obama? Fighting terrorism? Nope. Judging from experience, his best bet is just repeating his mantra: “Make America Great Again.” Welcome to another special edition of the Trump Twitter Filter, where we analyze the behavior of @realDonaldTrump so you don’t have …

As India celebrated 70 years of independence last week, a tragedy in a remote corner of India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh, highlighted how far the world’s largest democracy still is from being able to provide a healthy life for most of its citizens. For all its talk of smart cities and industrial corridors, this is the government’s greatest failing—and one …

Silicon Valley has a perception problem. Steve Jobs once said, speaking about the irreverent culture he helped create, that “it’s better to be a pirate than join the navy.” This ethos served the community well when its firms existed at “pirate scale.” But now Silicon Valley’s most successful companies have become some of the largest in the world. This culture …

In another sign that the age of fossil fuels is waning, the California State Senate has passed a bill to commit the state to use 100 percent renewable energy for power by 2045. Other states and cities—including Massachusetts, Chicago and Atlanta—intend to make similar switches. Proponents highlight a bevy of ways in which the Age of Renewables will improve our …

“Strategic patience” is out as the US approach to North Korea, and “strategic accountability” is the new term of art. That’s according to an op-ed article by Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. “The object of our peaceful pressure campaign,” they write, “is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” While I heartedly approve of finally …

Briefly, before he went wildly off-script at Trump Tower, we lived in a world where the 45th president of the United States had finally managed to condemn Nazis. And let’s ask ourselves: Did that make us feel any better? Did the sight of Donald J. Trump glumly reading off a teleprompter remarks obviously written by someone else convince anyone that …

Humanity has a method for trying to prevent new technologies from getting out of hand: explore the possible negative consequences, involving all parties affected, and come to some agreement on ways to mitigate them. New research, though, suggests that the accelerating pace of change could soon render this approach ineffective. People use laws, social norms and international agreements to reap …

They may call themselves “white nationalists,” but the adjective nullifies the noun. In Charlottesville, Virginia, few of them hoisted American flags. They marched under banners the United States took up arms to fight. Their stated cause was preserving a statue of a man who committed treason against our country: Robert E. Lee. Confederate flags, statuary and memorials have defenders who …

I spent part of last week following a congressman around the sun-baked precincts of West Texas. I watched Will Hurd meet with constituents, deliver his stump speech, and wax lyrical about the Dairy Queen Blizzard. I listened to voters tell me how much they admired Hurd, a moderate Republican in the only competitive district in Texas. I also watched the …