As Beijing and more than 20 other cities in northern China have been plunged into another winter air-pollution crisis, with choking, toxic air and many people afraid to wander outside, observers wonder when China will start making significant progress on this problem. But there is some good news, namely that when it comes to clean air improvements, China probably …

  To firms planning to buy other companies with borrowed money in the new year: Please take a moment to reconsider and learn from those who have gone before you. It’s true that companies flop all the time. But those that borrow gobs of money have a narrower margin for error. And companies in some sectors popular for leveraged buyouts, …

  How much is a child’s future success determined by innate intelligence? Economist James Heckman says it’s not what people think. He likes to ask educated non-scientists — especially politicians and policy makers — how much of the difference between people’s incomes can be tied to IQ. Most guess around 25 percent, even 50 percent, he says. But the data …