WASHINGTON — When the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994, it was widely regarded — by friend and foe alike — as an ambitious experiment in economic engineering. To advocates, it promised the benefits of stronger economic growth for its three member countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. To its adversaries, […]

WASHINGTON — It’s an axiom among many Americans that each future generation will live better than its predecessor. New technologies, greater efficiencies and a can-do spirit will reward us with higher living standards. There might be periodic stumbles, but the long-term trajectory is up. And the people most guaranteed to enjoy this bountiful future are […]

WASHINGTON — Let’s travel back in time to 1995. Most Americans still remembered the calamitous inflation of the late 1970s (prices rose 13 percent in 1979). Many federal benefits, including Social Security, were (and are) tied to inflation. But was the inflation overstated, as many economists thought? If so, the economy might be doing better […]

“The Federal Reserve is meant to be independent of parochial political interests. But it’s got to operate — I think of this as a kind of band, sometimes wide, sometimes narrow — within the range of understanding of the public and the political system. You just can’t go do something that is just outside the […]

WASHINGTON — Can we make sense of ETFs? If you’re in the investing class, you doubtlessly know that ETF stands for “exchange-traded fund.” Along with index mutual funds, they track a given stock or bond index. The best-known ETFs mirror the Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index. If the S&P 500 goes up, so do […]