In the US and other developed countries, there are three basic philosophies of macroeconomic stabilisation. Each of them was present in some form during the Great Depression, and each survives to this day. The first is Keynesianism, which centers around fiscal stimulus, mainly in the form of increased government spending. The second is monetarism, which holds that getting economies out ...

What’s the most important element in global commodity markets right now? Carbon? Copper? Gold? Wrong on all three counts. Sulfur — the yellow, infernal substance that gives rotten eggs their smell and hardens the rubber in car tires — is quietly roiling the energy industry. The disruptions could reshape everything from Australian coal, to the diesel and gasoline in your ...

Donald Trump has to decide what he wants. Rising interest rates, which he says he doesn’t like, are a reflection of a strong economy. He loves to take credit for the latter and frequently boasts about how great things are since he came to office. One begets the other. America isn’t being penalised for doing well, as Trump complained in ...