Comment

From a political perspective, optimal efficiency is not always desirable. In a democracy, reconciling conflicts of interest among stakeholders may require that we sacrifice some efficiency. A column by Diane Coyle.

If the US and China decided to engage in a prolonged cold war, the – dire – consequences would be dwarfed by another consequence: a lack of sufficiently strong action to combat climate change. A column by Minxin Pei.

The current structure of pension systems in most developed countries cannot be sustained without cutting benefit levels substantially or introducing much higher taxes. A column by Martin Feldstein.

Making the wage subsidy uniform would target those individuals most at risk of being mechanized out of employment, namely less skilled workers. A column by Barry Eichengreen.

Brexit constitutes a revolution, and that means it is bound to follow a familiar historical pattern, but the Brexit revolution has been unfolding in a country with little revolutionary tradition. A column by Harold James.

With few options for rallying public opinion, Putin may well have decided that it is time to «remind» Russians that they are under attack. A column by Andrei Kolesnikov.

At a time of ever-escalating threats and counter-threats, the imperative of compromise cannot be understated. A column by Stephen S. Roach.

The Brexit process showcases the risks associated with economic and political fragmentation and provides a preview of what awaits an increasingly fractured global economy. A column by Mohamed A. El-Erian.

When the inevitable downturn of the Chinese economy arrives, the world is likely to discover that China’s economy matters even more than most people thought. A column by Kenneth Rogoff.

All told, Washington's steel tariffs will neither reduce the US current-account deficit nor create more net jobs. A column by Anne O. Krueger

While the costs to Western companies imposed by the technology-transfer requirement are probably being vastly overstated, so, too, are the benefits that the policy brings to China. A column by Daniel Gros.

American presidents, like star athletes in team sports, get both too much credit and too much blame from voters and historians for what happens on their watch. A column by Michael J. Boskin.