Opinion

  You have to hand it to economists — they say the darndest things. In a Wall Street Journal survey, a group of economists “put the odds of the next downturn happening within the next four years at nearly 60 percent.” Oh no. Today, we will make another entry in the catalog of how worthless predictions tend to be, and ...

  With the passing of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the naming of his son to the throne, the question of when and to whom power would be transferred in Thailand has finally been answered. The real question, however, remains: how to empower the Thai people. While little can be said about how Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn might rule — ...

  The world’s envoys just pledged to make the planet safer by reaching a pact to curtail hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). HFCs are the fastest growing greenhouse gases. They are used in air conditioners, fridges and aerosols. Cutting HFCs will reduce global warming by 0.5 degrees by 2100. However, the transition from HFC to substitutes like ammonia, water or gasses called hydrofluoroolefins, ...

  When President Mauricio Macri took office in Argentina last December, he faced two monsters that his 44 million compatriots know only too well. The first was an economy ravaged by spendthrifts, who’d driven public finances into disarray and then papered over the mess with magical statistics. The second was the quandary of how to restore sensible government without inflicting ...

  Stanford historian Ian Morris is fond of saying that “each age gets the thought it needs.” According to this maxim, ideas like the Enlightenment, communism or even Christianity are a product of the economic and political circumstances of their times. It’s easy to believe that libertarianism might have been a good fit for the late 20th century. Coming out ...

  It’s fun to imagine a world without cash.Liberated from the burden of physical currency, consumers could make purchases from the convenience of a mobile device. Every transaction would come equipped with fraud protection, reward points and a digital record of its time and location. Comprehensive tracking could help the Internal Revenue Service reclaim billions of tax dollars lost to ...

  In a kinder, gentler, alternate universe, Ohio Governor John Kasich is the Republican nominee for president. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is out stumping for Kasich and plotting the education and immigration policies that he’ll pursue in the vice president’s office. (Substitute Senator Marco Rubio in the veep slot if you prefer; I went with the Floridian who demonstrated ...

  Over the past eight years, the major central banks have increased their balance sheets to $18 trillion from $6 trillion, predominantly through the purchase of their own government’s bonds. While the Fed has ended its QE program, the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan continue theirs. But those too will eventually come to an end. What happens next ...

  Events have lately been mounting an impressive case against referendums. Britain voted to leave the European Union. Colombia rejected a deal to end its decades-long conflict with FARC revolutionaries. Hungary just said no to (modest) European Union quotas for the resettlement of refugees. Poor choices all. These recent cases aren’t anomalies. They’re consistent with a history of bungled decisions ...

  The news that the UAE will have a sharia-compliant trade bank soon has given a big boost to the Islamic economy. Earlier, the launch of ‘My Salaam’ portal and mobile app — an innovative step — manifested the keeness of the country to consolidate the Islamic ecosystem. The launch of Awqaf International Organization is also an initiative that will ...