Megan McArdle At first after the convention broke for the night on Monday, everyone on the cable news networks agreed that Melania Trump’s speech was good. An hour later everyone was talking about how much her apparent plagiarism from Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech would hurt the Trump campaign. This morning Trump supporters are offering the only defense they can: …

  Tajikistan appears to be inching toward joining the Eurasian Economic Union. With Dushanbe long suggested to be considering membership, this news ought to be taken with a grain of salt. According to Asia-Plus, the head of the Customs Service, Abdufattoh Ghoib (who had previously headed the anti-corruption service before President Emomali Ramon’s son took it over), told reporters on …

  Bloomberg Positive earnings set the tone for equity markets while the dollar traded at a seven-week high as speculation grew the U.S. will raise interest rates this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average headed for a ninth straight gain, as Microsoft Corp. jumped after profit topped estimates. Technology companies and carmakers led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index higher as …