Opinion

  Justin Fox With each monthly data release from the Energy Information Administration (there was one last Tuesday) it gets a little clearer. Natural gas has overtaken coal as the main source of electrical power in the U.S.: Gas’s lead over coal will keep growing. Coal-fired generating capacity has fallen 15 percent in the past six years, according to the ...

  After years of explosive growth that killed many a print publication, the online advertising market may be reaching maturity. To keep growing, the biggest ad sellers — such as Facebook and Twitter — will need to find ways to get more money out of existing advertisers, and that means it’s television’s turn to feel the squeeze, because the social ...

  Any day now, India’s government is set to announce an official inflation target for the first time — a major step in the modernization of its economic institutions, particularly the central bank. The idea has been proposed and debated for years, including in a much-discussed 2008 report written for a previous Indian administration by Raghuram Rajan, now governor of ...

  The U.S. general election officially begins on Labor Day, but the dynamics for this volatile race will be established in August. Or: With a polarized electorate, many of the parameters of the contest are already baked into the cake, so little will change over the next five weeks. Both predictions can’t be true, yet political operatives in both parties ...

  Noah Smith Xavier Gabaix, a New York University economist who gets far less attention than he should, has written what might prove to be the most interesting macroeconomic theory paper in years. The title, “A Behavioral New Keynesian Model,” isn’t exactly exciting and the paper is still incomplete, but it might help resolve the most important and difficult macroeconomic ...

  The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral trade deal involving the U.S. and many countries on the Pacific Rim, has become something of a bugaboo for those both on the left and the right. Republican nominee Donald Trump has denounced TPP, declaring it a sop to China, even though China isn’t included in the agreement. Bernie Sanders is against it as ...

  To say that Venezuela is in acute crisis would be an understatement. It is staring at a massive collapse that is getting harder to prevent by the day. The country’s economy is in a free-fall amid the financial and political commotion. In 2016, its GDP will contract 10% and inflation accelerate to around 700%. Its gold reserves are shrinking ...

  Joseph Bosco In its courageous and comprehensive decision on the South China Sea, the arbitration tribunal appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration has rendered an invaluable service to the region and the international community. It has established an international law overlay to China’s sweeping territorial and maritime claims and thereby provided important guidance for all six competing claimants. ...

  For the past 70 years, Japan has been a crucible of experimentation in economic policy. During its go-go years, Tokyo’s unusual practices to spur rapid growth became a model for much of the rest of Asia, while its unconventional attempts to revive its post-bubble economy have helped economists understand what should and could be done to recover from financial ...

  The Aug. 5 opening of the 2016 Summer Olympics is still a week away, but Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes is already playing catch-up. A squad of blue overall-clad plumbers, electricians and custodians descended on the Athletes Village this week for emergency repairs. It turns out the brand new, $900 million complex of apartment buildings — “the best ...