Economists like to tell a possibly apocryphal story about Milton Friedman. The prophet of free markets, visiting an Asian country in the 1960s, witnessed a public-works project that had people making a road with picks and shovels. When he asked why they didn’t use earth-moving machines instead, a local official responded that the goal was to provide people with …

  Earlier this year, the Thai government announced its desire to create an economy of fresh new businesses through a 20 billion baht ($555 million) fund. Its stated goal was to “increase the number of startups in Thailand to 10,000 by 2018,” Information and Communication Technology Minister Uttama Savanayana was cited as saying in April, according to the Bangkok Post. …

  President-elect Donald Trump isn’t even in office yet, and he’s already delivered a helpful boost to the economy — the Japanese economy. At the end of a year of gloomy announcements, the Bank of Japan has raised its growth forecast for next year, and Trump deserves much of the credit. The main reason for the BOJ’s improving mood is …