Opinion

  John Maynard Keynes wrote in 1930 that “if economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, compe tent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.” Almost a century later, he’s getting his wish. Economists tend to be a grandiose bunch. They advise presidents and billionaires. They are generally unashamed about offering semi-professional opinions on ...

  Shelly Banjo America’s largest department store chain pleasantly surprised Wall Street last week by announcing plans to close 100 stores. At 12 percent of its total store base, that’s more locations than it shuttered during all of the last six years. Macy’s shares spiked 17 percent on the news, as investors shrugged off a sixth straight quarter of declining ...

  Nisha Gopalan Buy on rumour, sell on fact? China has given its blessing to a pipe that links the stock exchanges of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, opening the nation’s market further to foreign investors and allowing more funds to flow in the opposite direction. Anyone hoping the news will juice a rally in Chinese shares may be disappointed, though. ...

  Job insecurity is a central theme of the 2016 campaign, fueling popular anger about trade deals and immigration. But economists warn that much bigger job losses are ahead in America — driven not by foreign competition but by advancing technology. A look at the numbers suggests that America is having the wrong debate this year. Economic security won’t come ...

  The buyout Masters of the Universe are getting creative in Silicon Valley. This year, technology companies have made up about 19 percent of all US private equity buyouts, the industry’s largest share of PE deals since at least 2004, according to Bloomberg data. Some of the eye-catching private equity tech takeovers in 2016 were Thoma Bravo’s $3 billion buyout ...

  The junk-bond bears have been terribly wrong this year. But they’re sticking with their pessimistic calls. Distressed-debt investor Anchorage Capital, for example, which lost 1.48 percent in the first six months of the year, has urged clients to start preparing for a downturn, Bloomberg News reported Thursday. The founders of rival King Street expressed a similar sentiment in a ...

  Data shows that Japan’s economy stalled in the April-June quarter. It has missed the market forecasts and reignited worries about the government’s bid to prop up economy. Tokyo stocks fell after hitting their highest levels for over two months in the previous session. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently announced a massive 28 trillion yen ($276 billion) package aimed ...

  How much leeway should Marines have to express their religious beliefs? According to Congress, religious liberty laws apply with full force to the military. But last week the highest court in the armed forces put some limits on claims by active-duty personnel. Those limits cut against recent trends in Supreme Court jurisprudence — but they make a lot of ...

  Albert R. Hunt The lunch group in Monessen, Pennsylvania, is evenly divided between Trump supporters and Trump opponents. But the dark mood across the whole room suggests why this working-class town might end up favouring him in November. Monessen, once a steelmaking hub, has steadily lost plants, jobs and population over the decades. Along Donner Avenue, there are more ...

  A great mystery of our time — one that should frame the campaign debate — is why the economic recovery has been so sluggish. Consider this comparison. After the brutal recession of the early 1980s (peak unemployment: 10.8 percent), it took only 11 months for employment to regain its pre-recession level. By contrast, it required 51 months after the ...