WASHINGTON — You cannot understand President Trump’s so-called “trade war” without acknowledging that it’s mostly about politics and not about economics. Trump has embarked on a giant marketing campaign to convince us that foreigners — their exports — are to blame for our economic problems. It’s a seductive appeal to nationalism whose main defect is […]

WASHINGTON — The world is not ready for another financial crisis, but another financial crisis may be ready for the world. OK, the odds of this are long. Still, they’re not nonexistent. The history of modern financial crises is that, originating in obscure corners of the financial system, they are initially ignored because they seem […]

WASHINGTON — It must be obvious to almost everyone by now that the Trump administration’s trade policies, though involving less melodrama than relations with North Korea and Iran, threaten to do enormous harm to America’s foreign policy — and to the United States. I use the word “threaten,” because we don’t yet know whether President […]

WASHINGTON — We now have a new paper from economist Robert J. Gordon of Northwestern University that seeks to answer a great puzzle of our time: “Why has economic growth slowed when innovation appears to be accelerating?” In the process, Gordon illuminates a dispute between the Trump administration (which thinks growth can be increased) and […]

WASHINGTON — No doubt about it: Health care is a vexing political problem. There’s a contradiction at the core of our thinking. We want the best care when we or loved ones get sick. It’s a moral issue. There should be no limits on treatment. But the resulting uncontrolled health spending harms the country. It […]