Almost every major new economic initiative proposed by Democrats -- the Green New Deal, Medicare for all, debt-free college -- has a common feature: Unlike most current social programs, it would benefit younger Americans at the expense of older Americans.Since the New Deal, America’s social insurance programs have primarily transferred resources from the relatively young to the old. Social Security was designed as a program to support those unable to work, but over time its spending came to be d

Viewpoints Jan. 21, 2019

The world’s tech police have the opportunity to succeed in televisions where they initially failed with the rest of the connected world, and ensure that users retain a firm grasp on their data.Smart televisions are nothing new. Nor is the shift in the platform wars, where tech firms duke it out for primacy of their operating systems, from smartphones to the television set. But the fact that Amazon.com Inc. is developing its own smart TV indicates that there’s enough value in the user data to off

Viewpoints Jan. 20, 2019

It was both a historic vote and a decisive defeat for the government. But while it was called a “meaningful vote,” parliament’s verdict on Theresa May’s Brexit deal Tuesday was actually anything but.Tuesday’s ballot was all about tactics; not one MP thought it would decide anything. As the prime minister noted herself afterward, it makes clear what parliament doesn’t want, but not what alternative can garner a majority among lawmakers. As such, it has left all factions even more entrenched.Remai

Viewpoints Jan. 16, 2019

China’s economy is slowing. The downturn may be the result of recent events -- the trade war with the US, or retrenchment in China’s real estate and infrastructure sectors. But it may also be the latest manifestation of a trend that began a decade ago. And it may signal that China’s entire system of authoritarian state capitalism is less effective than many had believed.Recent data suggest that consumption is falling, indicating rocky times ahead:But China’s woes go far beyond the current busine

Viewpoints Jan. 16, 2019

Does President Donald Trump have the legal authority to declare a national emergency, and order the military to build a wall between Mexico and the United States?We are dealing with a novel question here, which means that any judgment has to have a degree of tentativeness. But the best answer appears to be no.Outside of the most extraordinary circumstances, the US Constitution does not give the president “emergency power.” If he wants to declare a national emergency -- to build a wall, to respon

Viewpoints Jan. 15, 2019

It was mendacious, petty, deeply cynical and full of contradictions -- and just possibly the most honest expression of a US administration’s policy in the Middle East by a top American official.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech in Cairo will win no hearts and change no minds among his imagined audience, the Arab world. Most Arabs will have paid it no heed at all, since Pompeo is widely regarded as having no “wasta” (connection or influence) on the Trump administration’s Middle East poli

Viewpoints Jan. 14, 2019

Ten years ago, President Barack Obama traveled to Cairo to open a new dialogue with the world’s Muslims. On Thursday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Cairo to offer a rebuttal.　Some of his points are correct. It’s true that Obama in his first term was too sanguine about political Islam. In 2009 -- two years before the revolution that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak -- Obama invited members of the Muslim Brotherhood to attend his speech. Obama wrongly assessed the prospects for

Viewpoints Jan. 13, 2019

French President Emmanuel Macron’s handouts to “yellow vest” protesters have damped the demonstrators’ fervor somewhat but failed to stop the regular eruptions of violence, so now Macron and his government have decided to wield a heavier stick. The new rules being proposed ought to raise some eyebrows: They’re tougher than the norms Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime uses to suppress political opposition.　The shift from a conciliatory tone toward law and order began with Macron’s New Year

Viewpoints Jan. 13, 2019

Is China’s Belt and Road Initiative a bold infrastructure vision, or a slush fund? The question is becoming more pressing.　Chinese officials offered to help bail out state-owned 1Malaysia Development, kill off investigations into alleged corruption at the fund, and spy on journalists looking into it in exchange for stakes in Belt-and-Road railway and pipeline projects in Malaysia, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. If proven, that would offer the clearest link yet between the 1MDB scandal

Viewpoints Jan. 10, 2019

One of the most common arguments against President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces from Syria is that it will strengthen Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was to leave Tuesday for a weeklong tour of the Middle East, makes an interesting case for why that isn’t so.　Trump himself gave his critics ammunition at a cabinet meeting last week, when he observed that Iran already “can do what they want” in Syria. But his comment was merely descriptive, not a prediction of what will

Viewpoints Jan. 9, 2019

The damage caused by US President Donald Trump’s trade fight with China has spread farther and faster than many expected. Factories in China and the US have seen orders slump. American farmers are hurting. A collapse in Chinese demand for iPhones knocked nearly $75 billion off Apple’s market cap in a single day. Slower growth just prompted China’s central bank to ease monetary policy, and, despite last week’s encouraging news on US jobs, the Fed is having second thoughts about its plan to normal

Viewpoints Jan. 8, 2019

US President Donald Trump in a meeting with congressional Democrats on Friday said he was prepared for the partial government shutdown to continue for months -- or even years -- if he doesn’t get the money he wants for a wall along the Mexican border. It’s not hard to see how that prediction comes true. Both sides have framed the issue such that a victory for one side on funding a border wall entails defeat for the other. Neither side has much incentive to compromise.　Suppose Trump is right. The

Viewpoints Jan. 8, 2019