Opinion

Recent leaks from the US State Department suggest that Secretary Rex Tillerson is not interested in one of its traditional missions: promoting democracy across the world. But could it actually be a wise move to pause those efforts—especially at this undeniably awkward moment for the US? Josh Rogin at The Washington Post reports that State is looking to amend its …

Millions of American workers are frozen out of their companies’ pension plans. Maybe you get a 401(k), if you’re lucky. But the traditional pension is dead. Unless, perhaps, you’re already retired. It still lives for millions of older Americans who worked and qualified for their pensions in another era. Today’s retirees are living pretty well, new research finds—much better than …

For all the talk of globalization’s retreat amid the mercantilist rhetoric of Donald Trump, it’s proving to be a very different story in Asia. Exports are resurgent, governments are pursuing free-trade deals, and rather than bringing jobs back home, American automakers are planning new facilities in China. That early-2017 angst over potential for a trade war is now turning into …

When all right-thinking people in the nation’s capital seem to agree on something—as has been the case recently with legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia—that may be a warning that the debate has veered into an unthinking herd mentality. Sanctions were already an overused tool of foreign policy before President Trump this week peevishly signed into law a measure imposing …

At their meeting recently, the makers of India’s monetary policy cut interest rates only marginally. They would seem to have had little choice—but also little confidence that a deeper cut would jumpstart the Indian economy. The preceding days and weeks had featured a deluge of worrisome data, all of it pointing in the same direction: the economy was slowing down, …

US economic data releases this week fell short of consensus expectations and markets have been lowering their expectations of a Federal Reserve hike. That means there will be even more attention on the employment report for July, which will be released Friday. What is most needed—for Main Street, for Wall Street and for an orderly normalization of Fed policy—is a …

Britain and France announced last month the death of the internal combustion engine, both scheduling it for 2040. Their ban on gas- and diesel-powered cars may only accelerate a process already well on its way, but it will help reduce the future effects of climate change and pollution now. The trend towards electric vehicles is coming from both government and …

Oil producers who for years tracked top OPEC member Saudi Arabia to help set the price of their crude could now be looking to go solo. With $100 oil a distant memory and US crude eating into their share of prized markets, they are seeking new ways to assess if their supply may be worth more—a prospect that’ll help prop …

It’s hard to be a Canadian auto-parts bull when US car sales are falling, Nafta negotiations are about to start and the loonie is rising, but there are reasons for investors to hold their nerve. No subsector of the S&P/TSX Composite Index has generated more consistent outperformance when bond yields are rising, according to Matt Barasch, Canadian equity strategist at …

Once upon a time, the battle for the crown of world’s biggest automaker was a one-horse race. Since overtaking Ford Motor Co.’s sales in 1931—not that long after the last Model T rolled off the production line—General Motors Co. was the undisputed global market leader for the best part of eight decades. In 2008, Toyota Motor Corp. pulled ahead, before …