Opinion

  Remember how some Democrats were making a big deal about voting reforms earlier this year? They promised that if they won they would push for automatic voter registration, voting for ex-felons and better administration of elections. The good news for advocates of making voting easier is that the Democratic national platform wound up having a strong plank supporting reform. ...

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has realized it the hard way that the source of migration needs to be addressed. The jolt she received in the regional polls must have been a rude awakening for her. The outcome of the elections was reason enough for her to delve deeper into the refugee problem and go beyond the open-door policy. She ...

Donald Trump’s threat in Sunday night’s presidential debate to appoint a special prosecutor to go after Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server is legally empty — but it’s genuinely dangerous nevertheless. Federal regulations give the appointment power to the attorney general, not the president, precisely to protect us against a president who uses the special prosecutor as a ...

When I talk to friends in asset management, I often hear them express a deep, gnawing worry about low interest rates. Fears that low rates would spark inflation, or cause governments to default on their debt, seem to have receded. I don’t hear many people talk about a “bond bubble” anymore. But one big concern won’t go away — the ...

  Noah Feldman A company puts out word that it’s hiring: recent college graduates only, no experienced salespeople need apply. That’s age discrimination, right? Not according to a ruling from a federal appeals court last week. Overturning a half-century of practice, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that job applicants can’t benefit from the disparate-impact provision ...

  Will Brexit be hard or soft? The question preoccupies British politicians and commentators — not to mention global currency markets, if the sharp fall in sterling this week is any guide. Despite its command of the discussion, however, this hard-or-soft framing is unhelpful. It’s best dropped altogether. Sterling slumped after Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Oct. 2 that ...

  General-election debates rarely cause major changes in voters’ choices. That’s what political scientists believe for the most part. Yet after the first presidential debate, on Sept. 26, Hillary Clinton moved back into a strong lead over Donald Trump. Indeed, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecasts, her chances of winning bottomed out on that very day (at 55 percent), and have ...

There had been hope the U.S. jobs report for September released on Friday would show faster wage growth and a rising labor participation rate. It had both, though the data was otherwise mixed. After the disappointing drop for August, wage growth picked up to an annualized rate of 2.6 percent in September. Along with an increase in the number of ...

  The world is in the grip of surging protectionism. The anti-free trade and anti-globalization sentiments are taking deep roots. Populism is swaying the masses. The odds seem to be conspiring against an already fragile economic growth. International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns of “low growth trap” in the next few years. Despite warnings and calls to stop the tide of ...

  Michelle Obama has spent a long time building a “kitchen garden” for the White House, intended as an example to the nation of local eating and healthy food. Now that she’s leaving the White House, she doesn’t want to see it wither away. Politico reports: Obama on Wednesday afternoon will formally unveil a much bigger version of the garden ...