It’s time to take a brief break from Donald Trump. Whatever you think of him, there’s no denying that he dominates the news cycle. We seem to assume that the nation’s future depends on Trump’s fate, for better or worse. The reality is otherwise: The nation’s future also hangs on larger economic and social trends that no president can shape. …

How far can the euphoria over Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. go? Even by the standards of online retail, its rise has been extraordinary. Revenue has grown by an average 52 percent annually over the past five years. Its 158 billion yuan ($23 billion) of sales in the 12 months through March was more than 10 times the 2011 figure. Far …

The White House has called it a “revolution,” the “beginning of a new era,” and the “single most exciting thing we can do.” More modestly, you might just call it a pretty good idea. At an otherwise grim moment in Washington, that’s something to cheer. President Donald Trump announced a plan to turn the air-traffic control system over to a …