[Robert B. Reich] Two types of patriotism in U.S.

We hear a lot about patriotism, especially around the Fourth of July. But in 2016 we’re hearing about two very different types of patriotism. One is an inclusive patriotism that binds us together. The other is an exclusive patriotism that keeps others out.Through most of our history we’ve understood patriotism the first way. We’ve celebrated the values and ideals we share in common: democracy, equal opportunity, freedom, tolerance and generosity.We’ve recognized these as aspirations to which we

June 30, 2016

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Imagining the year of 2019 after Brexit　

It’s the summer of 2019, three years after British voters stunned the world by voting to leave the European Union. The U.K. has regained its economic and financial footing, as well as its national confidence. A smaller and more unified European Union now functions in a more coherent fashion.But the road has been bumpy and, as a result, the global economy came close to recession, financial instability and more isolationist policies. Meanwhile, the global standing and influence of both the EU and

June 30, 2016

[J. Bradford DeLong] Which thinkers will define our future?

Several years ago, it occurred to me that social scientists today are all standing on the shoulders of giants like Niccolo Machiavelli, John Locke, Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. One thing they all have in common is that their primary focus was on the social, political, and economic makeup of the Western European world between 1450 and 1900. Which is to say, they provide an intellectual toolkit for looking at, say, the Western world of 1840, but not necessarily

June 29, 2016

[Albert R. Hunt] Never mind the confusing polls, Clinton is way ahead

Looking at reliable recent polls, you could come away with two contradictory conclusions: Donald Trump is cratering, allowing Hillary Clinton to run away with the presidential race. Or Trump has survived an awful month and is surprisingly competitive.I’m going presume to tell you what the state of play really is by looking at multiple surveys and extrapolating a bit.Clinton, though she remains an unpopular candidate, has an advantage of about 7 points, though it’s slightly less when third- and f

June 29, 2016

Immigration debacle continues in U.S.

Few topics have spawned more commentary in recent years than unauthorized immigration, and few have generated as much pressure for a solution. But in a decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court provided a nine-word ruling -- “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court,” it read in its entirety -- and no resolution. So a matter that has roiled American politics and government for years will go on roiling.The result of the Supreme Court action was to return the dispute over President Ba

June 29, 2016

[Michael Smerconish] Are we really that angry?

Anger is clearly the buzzword of the 2016 presidential campaign, especially on the GOP side of the aisle. Google the word with Republican and, like me, you might get more than 24 million hits (vs. 606,000 when matched with Democrat).I have watched the angry storyline take hold. On roughly a dozen occasions during this campaign season, I was a CNN election-night panelist. If you watched, you may have seen my colleagues and me with our faces buried in laptops. Often we were analyzing exit surveys

June 28, 2016

[Trudy Rubin] British populism a warning to U.S. voters

How fitting. As the Brits cast a stunning vote to quit the European Union, Donald Trump was opening a luxury golf course in Scotland and crowing that Britain did “a great thing.”This historic victory for the British Brexiteers is part of a nationalist trend that is gripping Europe and has spread across the Atlantic. The leader of the “Leave” campaign, the blond, mop-haired Boris Johnson, is a bombastic Trump clone who defied his Conservative Party’s leader, Prime Minister David Cameron. Johnson

June 28, 2016

[Justin Fox] China’s globalization means shrinking Web access

I wrote most of this column at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin, the giant port city (population: 15 million) a half-hour bullet-train ride southeast of Beijing. It’s a sleek aircraft-hangar of a building that’s hosting the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, what the Chinese call “summer Davos.”　That all sounds pretty modern and global and connected, doesn’t it? Technologically sophisticated, too: I arrived too late this morning (lots of traffic i

June 28, 2016

[Gita Gopinath] India’s economy after Gov. Raghuram Rajan

Raghuram Rajan’s decision not to seek a second term as governor of the Reserve Bank of India was met with shock from those of us who have been cheering on the Indian economy. While it is no secret that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had its problems with Rajan, few believed that the government would take a step that so clearly undermines India’s interests.The government never liked Rajan’s insistence on pursuing interest rate cuts gradually in order to promote price stability; instead

June 27, 2016

[Cass R. Sunstein] On affirmative action, U.S. court rules for humility

In refusing to strike down a race-conscious admissions plan at the University of Texas at Austin on Thursday, the Supreme Court did more than uphold an affirmative action program. Just as important, it struck a much-needed blow for judicial modesty.The justices showed an awareness that others might know better than they do. We could use a lot more of that.The crucial part of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion came toward the end. “Considerable deference is owed to a university,” he wrote

June 27, 2016

[Albert R. Hunt] Trump, Clinton push divergent economic cures

The contempt that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump express for each other will continue to play out in vitriolic sound bites. But their profound differences on what to do about the economy and the struggling middle class are far more important.“This election will be won by whichever candidate convinces middle-class voters they are better for their jobs and future prospects,” says Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation economist and Trump adviser.“This is about whether economic forces hollow out th

June 27, 2016

[Alex Rodriguez] For America, Brexit should serve as a potent warning sign

Britain has Brexited, choosing populism and over pragmatism, insularity over inclusion -- and leaving the world transformed and deeply worried.The rising tide against immigration has Trumped integration (pun intended, of course). It’s a script that Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, easily could have penned, were it not for the U.K.’s own version of nationalistic bombast and one of the standard bearers for Brexit -- former London Mayor Boris Johnson. Johnson and other Brexit leade

June 26, 2016

[Robert B. Reich] A big election idea for Hillary

If Donald Trump continues to implode, Hillary Clinton will win simply by being the presidential candidate who isn’t Trump.But the prospect of a President Trump is so terrifying that Clinton shouldn’t take any chances. The latest matchup polls show her about six points ahead — a comfortable but not surefire margin.What else can Clinton offer other than that she’s also experienced and would be the first woman to hold the job? So far, she’s put forth a bunch of respectable policy ideas. But they’re

June 26, 2016