Some political debates have highlights. The first presidential debate this year had only lowlights. Joe Biden called President Donald Trump “a clown.” Trump said Biden wasn’t smart. Biden said Trump “has been a fool.” And on it went, in what must have been the nastiest presidential debate in US history. The most common word in the transcript will be “[crosstalk].” ...

There has always been a paradox at the heart of Uber Technologies Inc’s business model. The ride-hailing firm aimed to attract users with prices that undercut the traditional taxi industry, thereby squeezing out the competition. With a monopoly, it would be able to raise its fares and turn a profit. But higher fares then risk irritating the customers it wooed ...

The history of epidemics is rife with examples of society rebelling against tough public-health edicts, such as the breach of plague quarantine in 18th-century Marseille or protests against face masks during the 1918 influenza pandemic. The grim consequence is a fresh wave of deadly infections. Covid-19’s million deaths may pale in comparison to the estimated 50 million lives lost in ...