However this election turns out, the 2016 campaign for the White House will undoubtedly be remembered for its vulgarity, mean-spiritedness and mendacity. It has been a national embarrassment. But a parallel failing is less noticed: the unwillingness of both candidates — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — to come to grips with national problems that are staring them in …

  This week, there have been not one, but two open letters by some of the most eminent economists in the U.S., urging the American public not to vote for Donald Trump. One letter, published in the Wall Street Journal, was signed by 370 economists, including eight Nobel prize winners. It slams Trump for questioning the accuracy of economic data, …

  Graphic images of diseased lungs, rotting teeth and people smoking through tracheotomy holes aren’t the best way to sell cigarettes. Which is exactly why they feature so prominently on cigarette packs in dozens of countries — and should in the U.S. as well. More than seven years ago, Congress mandated such labels, covering at least half of the fronts …