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As Democrats swing left, it becomes increasingly difficult to imagine what their triumph in the next election would mean for America. The presidential candidates endorse a variety of far-reaching proposals that, if adopted, would represent the largest expansion of government since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. The added spending, taxes or deficits could total hundreds of billions. Are these sound economic ...

Spare a thought for the European Central Bank (ECB). The minutes of the last Governing Council show the central bank is in a bind over the state of the euro zone recovery and the next steps to take. Still, it is hard to see why they shouldn’t be. The economic picture is objectively confusing. The problem is that we have ...

No one should be surprised that Wayfair Inc.’s earnings report showed that it had a gangbusters holiday season, with retail sales growing 41 percent from a year earlier. After all, the digital home-goods seller had already said its sales were up 58 percent from a year earlier during the five-day stretch, suggesting it had started the season with a bang. ...

President Donald Trump’s decision to delay new tariffs on Chinese imports is good news. There’s no guarantee he’s about to strike a sensible agreement on trade with Beijing, but the suspension of hostilities is welcome. Trump’s approach up to now has become all too familiar. Ratchet up tensions with incendiary rhetoric; impose unilateral sanctions; engage in talks ending in incremental ...

Whether or not you believe the Russian economy grew 2.3 percent last year, beating the most optimistic expectations, the Russian Economy Ministry doesn’t want anyone to expect a repeat in 2019. That doesn’t mean there will be no baffling statistical anomalies this year, only that, realistically, there’s no reason for a rapid economic expansion. Russia’s official statistical agency, Rosstat, where ...

The world’s gold miners have spent years avoiding each others’ gazes like nervous teenagers. Now all of a sudden they’re acting like the thrill has gone. It hasn’t even been two months since Barrick Gold Corp. and Randgold Resources Ltd. announced that their merger was “consummated,” and already Executive Chairman John Thornton appears to be checking out an old flame. ...

There are nations on this earth that tax their citizens far more heavily than the US does. The top spots on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) rankings of tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product in 2017 were held by France (46.2 percent), Denmark (46 percent), Belgium (44.6 percent), Sweden (44 percent) and Finland (43.3 ...

Bloomberg Federal Reserve policy makers see 2019 marking the end of their balance sheet run-off, but not necessarily their interest-rate increases. Minutes of the central bank’s January 29-30 policy meeting released showed “almost all participants” agreeing it best to halt roll-offs this year, a move that should be welcomed by investors worried the balance sheet draw-down is hurting the economy. ...

Bloomberg Roberto Campos Neto needs no introduction in financial markets, but his thoughts on how the central bank could boost Brazil’s recovery have remained a mystery. While the money-making talents of the former Santander treasurer are well known, the Senate confirmation hearing should finally reveal what the nominee for the central bank’s presidency thinks about interest rates, inflation, and Brazil’s ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s highest court overturned Latvia’s suspension of central bank Governor Ilmars Rimsevics as part of a bribery probe that’s shaken the Baltic nation. In a victory for the European Central Bank, the EU Court of Justice on Tuesday said Latvia last year illegally prohibited the ECB Governing Council member from performing his role as central bank governor. ...