Opinion

A household appliance will be the next steppingstone on America’s path to restored greatness. The government is poised to punish many Americans, in the name of protecting a few of them, because, in the government’s opinion, too many of them are choosing to buy foreign-made washing machines for no better reason than that the buyers think they are better. If ...

One of Washington’s permanent parlor games is how much credit or blame a president deserves for the state of the economy. Inevitably, then, the question being asked now is whether Donald Trump or Barack Obama created today’s strong economy. The correct answer is: neither. To the extent that personal responsibility can be assigned, the worthy recipient is Janet Yellen. In ...

Mario Draghi had better enjoy his winter break. Entering the home stretch of his eight-year term, the European Central Bank (ECB) president unveiled a big jump in the growth forecast and told reporters he’s increasingly confident in the outlook. His demeanor seemed almost relaxed, winding down for the year. It won’t last. The relatively upbeat outlook foreshadows a watershed moment ...

Well, here are some things you don’t see every day. A few headlines in Brazil are aligning to show Latin America’s largest economy a path back towards confidence — and, just possibly, to restore some of the world’s confidence in democracy. The first unusual circumstance is that Brazil’s central bank governor will almost certainly have to write a letter to ...

“There’s nothing wrong with supply-side economics that division by ten wouldn’t cure.” The quip came from Charles Schultze, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in Democrat Jimmy Carter’s White House. It meant that improving incentives to work and invest would promote economic growth — but not nearly as much as tax-cutting enthusiasts believed. The point applies to the ...

The idea of rerunning the UK’s historic 52%-to-48% 2016 vote to leave the European Union (EU) is understandably tempting for those in the 48% camp. Consider what has happened since: nail-biting negotiations with the EU, polls that show growing Brexit remorse, and evidence that the UK economy is suffering from uncertainty the vote has brought. The main UK political parties ...

Central banks and cryptocurrencies seem to come from different planets. While monetary authorities are the guardians of price and financial stability, the likes of bitcoin and ethereum have ignited a speculative frenzy mirroring the tulip mania of the 17th century. Yet, from Singapore to Sweden, central bankers are taking a close interest in digital currencies. They are right to do ...

Now that the US Federal Communications Commission has killed net neutrality, what happens next — assuming appeals fail — depends on the economic incentives for internet service providers. These incentives make it unlikely that there will be significant changes to the user’s experience. In at least two ways, the internet in the US wasn’t completely neutral even while the 2015 ...

When historians examine President Trump’s tax programme, they will surely be struck by a large and momentous contradiction. Although the nation faces endless budget deficits — and although the president purports to speak about the future — his tax programme does little or nothing to curb long-term deficits and, arguably, might make them worse. It is said that the tax ...

Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, can consistently squeeze more than $10 a barrel in refining margins out of crude. Expect no less from him when it comes to monetizing Reliance Industries Ltd.’s investment in Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., the fourth-generation mobile network that’s taken the nation’s digital landscape by storm. What kind of an equity market valuation should Ambani put ...