Of all the measures to improve gun safety, background checks are among the most reasonable and popular. House Republicans lost no time this week in voting to weaken them. A bill approved on a mostly party-line vote in the House would rescind a rule on gun background checks that was initiated by the Barack Obama administration in 2012 and …

  US Defense Secretary James Mattis said diplomatic efforts should be exhausted to find a solution of South China Sea dispute. Mattis’ stand is in contrast to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who appeared to advocate a tougher action to resolve maritime issue. Last month, Tillerson said the US should send a clear signal that further island-building should stop, and …

  The great macroeconomist Robert Lucas once uttered a memorable quote about the mystery of economic development: Is there some action a government of India could take that would lead the Indian economy to grow [more rapidly]. If so, what, exactly?…The consequences for human welfare involved in questions like these are simply staggering: Once one starts to think about them, …