The conversation — or argument— we’ve been having on immigration has been remarkably skewed. It’s been all about the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, otherwise known as the “undocumented.” Actually, what counts far more are the estimated 31 million immigrants who are here legally and the roughly 1 million who gain legal entry every year. Of course, the question …

    The West, it’s obvious, faces a migration crisis. Across the aging, stagnating economies of the developed world, citizens are revolting against what many perceive as an uncontrolled influx of foreigners. The U.S. apart, most of these economies are also facing a prolonged crisis of growth. Under other circumstances, the solution would be obvious: restore vitality by taking in …

Over the past couple decades, the Bank of Japan has tried time and again to get interest rates up from zero, only to discover that the zero bound has a peculiarly strong gravitational pull. Although I hope the new measures it announced this week will help, its past experience holds an important lesson for central banks everywhere. When interest rates …