The “art of the deal,” in Donald Trump’s version, has a hard edge. It involves public bluster, threats of litigation, and confrontational negotiations. It’s about winning, rather than compromise. But there’s another version of dealmaking that’s more relevant to how Washington actually works. It’s about passing budgets and avoiding shutdowns. It involves creating space for agreement on taxes and spending. These negotiations usually take place out of public view. And they’re shaped by one of Washi

Viewpoints Oct. 9, 2016

We have all heard about how driverless cars will magically change the way we commute and transform the entire urban landscape.　There will be far fewer vehicles plying on the roads, as these autonomous pods will pick up four or five passengers heading in the same direction.　There will be less demand for parking in the city because these pods can be stowed away in far-flung industrial areas when they are not in use.　However, most of the time, they will be busy picking up people or goods. If they a

Viewpoints Oct. 6, 2016

The hard part was supposed to be over. After a half century of war, and after four years of grinding negotiations, the Colombian government and leaders of the country’s insurgency reached an accord in August to end a conflict in which more than 220,000 people were killed and 6 million displaced. The world watched Sept. 26 as President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed the agreement, hailed as a blueprint for resolving war through

Viewpoints Oct. 6, 2016

The Hillary Clinton campaign is relentlessly focusing on the defects of Donald Trump rather than the defects of the Republican agenda. That’s understandable, and it could be a winning strategy. But it has pitfalls.The campaign‘s goal is to attract a wide swath of voters who might ordinarily lean Republican on issues, as well as unenthusiastic Democrats who need the specter of a Trump presidency to get to the polls.As Clinton told a crowd a few weeks ago at the American Legion convention in Cinci

Viewpoints Oct. 6, 2016

Institutional investors usually rake in huge capital gains by trading equities after borrowing from individuals or pension funds. Local institutions have been more active in using their trading skills than their foreign counterparts on South Korean bourses.It is illogical from one perspective that some -- but not all -- investors are allowed to sell others’ stocks at their own will. And the discontent among ineligible investors stems from the unfair situation that individual investors, who are b

Editorial Oct. 6, 2016

 We have definitely become hardened to news stories about children abused and murdered by none other than their parents. Yet, the latest case in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, is shocking enough to make one shudder with rage. This time, the victim is a 6-year-old adopted girl. The girl, according to police, was bound up with duct tape by her foster parents. She died, and they moved her body to a mountain and burned it. Police said the victim’s adoptive father, 47, and his 30-year-old wife told them

Editorial Oct. 5, 2016

With a strike this week across the de facto border in Kashmir, India appears to have found a new way to respond to attacks by Pakistan-linked militants. Its government should be wary of overestimating the scale of its victory, though, or underestimating the scope of the challenges that remain.That’s not to say India doesn’t deserve credit for its deft handling of the latest confrontation between South Asia’s nuclear-armed neighbors. After Pakistan-linked militants killed 19 Indian soldiers in Ka

Viewpoints Oct. 5, 2016

The United States needs to shift its spending from war to education, from CIA-backed regime change to a new Global Fund for Education. With hundreds of millions of children around the world not in school, or in schools with underqualified teachers, a lack of computers, large class sizes and no electricity, many parts of the world are headed for massive instability, joblessness and poverty. The 21st century will belong to countries that properly educate their young people to participate productiv

Viewpoints Oct. 5, 2016

Washington state residents must hope that Hillary Clinton is pulling our leg and will end up supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership if she’s elected president.This is a sorry state of affairs: Hoping a politician flip-flops.Yet the alternative is sadly much worse. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has threatened to scrap existing trade agreements if they can’t be reworked and raise tariffs. Instead of restoring jobs across the heartland, this would start a punishing trade war just as the e

Viewpoints Oct. 5, 2016

Hungarians voted in a referendum Sunday to support Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s policy of trying to keep migrants from war-torn countries to the east out of Hungary. The vote in favor was about 92 percent, but the 3.3 million who came to the polls were too few, representing 40 percent of registered voters; Hungarian law requires a 50 percent turnout for such a measure to become operative. Orban’s government has signaled its intent to go ahead anyway, in defiance of the law.European Union planni

Viewpoints Oct. 5, 2016