At the start of every year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) publishes its annual “The Budget and Economic Outlook,” a tome full of statistics, tables and charts. Frankly, it’s easy to get swamped by the numbers. To make sense of the report, I’ve selected five takeaways that capture the main points. (1) The US economy is in the midst of ...

All Caterpillar Inc. said was that demand in China would be flat this year. That only scrapes the surface. The US industrial bellwether blamed China for the 4 percent slide in its Asia-Pacific sales for the fourth quarter. The mainland market constitutes 10 percent to 15 percent of the company’s construction-segment sales and 5 percent to 10 percent of the ...

On January 29, the UK sent a resounding message to the European Union: “We demand that you give us what we want.” Don’t expect the audience to be receptive. Parliament was considering changes to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, which it rejected by a spectacular margin two weeks ago. One measure that carried the day, and which May supported, ...