Opinion

  The best way to describe China’s economic quandary is also the simplest: It can strive for maximum growth now or later — but not both. China’s government is well aware that promoting the growth of the world’s largest economy in the long term involves structural changes that will slow the economy in the short term. And its success in ...

  Venezuela’s crushing economic and political crisis is spiralling out of control. Widespread food and medicine crunch, 700% inflation, abysmal recession, corruption and crime have put the country on the edge of a virtual collapse. The recall vote to unseat President Nicolas Maduro is also facing bureaucratic bottlenecks. The ruling party has been accused of creating a climate of intimidation ...

  When Bill Clinton signed welfare reform into law, the outrage from the left was incandescent. Peter Edelman, a prominent official in Health and Human Services, resigned in protest and wrote an article for the Atlantic calling it “The Worst Thing Bill Clinton Has Done” and declaring that “it will hurt millions of poor children by the time it is ...

  The Department of Justice announced last week that it would end its reliance on for-profit prisons run by companies such as Corrections Corporation of America and Geo Group. The decision followed an internal study, which found that private prisons tended to be less safe and poorly administered, and provided limited long-term savings for the federal government. Shares of CCA ...

  To appreciate what’s at stake for the world in this year’s U.S. presidential election, it’s useful to visit a place like Australia that has been one of our most faithful allies — and that appears to be mortified at what’s happening in American politics. Australians are polite, in their own rowdy way. And they know they have to live ...

  By any measure, Shanghai is one of the world’s biggest cities. It’s home to more than 24 million people. Its subway system is the longest ever built, extending to its rural limits. Crowds are so thick that burly “shovers” get paid to help pack the trains. Now the local government is saying enough is enough: Documents released this week ...

  The U.S. Treasury thinks it’s bad enough that companies such as Apple park piles of cash overseas to avoid paying tax. What’s worse is when foreign authorities change the rules that attracted the money in the first place, and tax those holdings for themselves. In effect, the European Commission is threatening to do just that. Apple and other U.S. ...

  The long-standing dispute over canola exports will weigh heavy on Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s August 30-September 6 visit to China as he readies to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend the G20 summit. In the run-up to the significant tour that comes at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang, Ottawa has sent strong feelers that it ...

  Donald Trump is a terrible campaigner. He is still struggling to assemble the basics of a campaign operation. Gaffes drop from his lips with the regularity of a waterfall rushing over a cliff. Now he seems to be backtracking on his signature issue, a hard-line stance on immigration. Or maybe he isn’t. Well, strategy and messaging aren’t his strong ...

  Even Donald Trump recognizes that he has an immigration problem. No, I’m not talking about his wife, Melania, whose promised news conference detailing her sketchy immigration history has, almost three weeks after Trump announced it, still failed to materialize. I’m talking about the pronouncements — mass deportations, the famous Mexican-financed border wall — that have been the centerpiece of ...