General Motors Co.’s aggressive cost-cutting plan shows the danger of taking corporate-investment pledges at face value in the Trump era. The automaker is on track to close five North American plants, four of which are in the US, and cut more than 14,000 salaried staff and factory workers. The company will close another two plants abroad. This belt-tightening is aimed at steering GM away from slower-selling sedans and adding to its firepower for electric and self-driving vehicle development. But

Viewpoints Nov. 28, 2018

A toothless United Nations document is stirring up political trouble throughout Europe, nearly toppling one government. The overreaction to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration shows how immigration politics have decoupled from the reality of people moving across borders.In July, the text of the Compact was approved by all 193 UN member states -- except the US, which had pulled out of the talks earlier.Member states are supposed to sign it formally at a special conference i

Viewpoints Nov. 27, 2018

The behavior of Chinese officials at last weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Papua New Guinea, reportedly barging into the foreign minister’s office to try to cut mildly critical language on trade from a final communique, seemed intended to signal that China won’t budge an inch on US demands. Commerce Minister Zhong Shan has declared that those who assume Beijing will cave to President Donald Trump’s bullying “don’t know the history and culture of China.” As a matter of fact,

Viewpoints Nov. 27, 2018

With the Democrats having retaken the House of Representatives, and with socialists gaining more clout within the Democratic Party, the US is awakening to the reality of a reinvigorated left. Long decades of increasing inequality have taken some of the shine off of capitalism, and the disappointment wrought by the Great Recession seems to have been a catalyst for a socialist resurgence.But a big question looms in the background: What kind of new system does the left want?There are two basic alte

Viewpoints Nov. 26, 2018

Committed Brexiters have arrived at the conclusion that the deal Prime Minister Theresa May has negotiated is not just bad; it’s worse than remaining in the European Union. That’s axiomatic. But what’s their plan? It’s not to cancel Brexit. And it’s not to hold a new public vote.Their preference appears to be for what they call a “managed” no-deal Brexit. The pitch is that this isn’t the catastrophic crash-out business fears, but a brisk exit to World Trade Organization rules, with key risks mit

Viewpoints Nov. 26, 2018

Consumers of brokerage research on China’s economy and companies have long known that they need to read between the lines. Securities firms are often circumspect in their judgments to avoid alienating powerful interests that could damage their business.So it’s curious that the head securities regulator went to the trouble of meeting with more than 30 brokerages and fund firms to admonish them to be careful in what they say. Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, told

Viewpoints Nov. 26, 2018

One of the central figures in the drama over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has remained an invisible man. Global attention has focused on the role played by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oct. 2 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. But another figure deserves equal billing: the prince’s father, King Salman.The crown prince is often referred to as the “de facto ruler” of Saudi Arabia. But that’s not what he really is. The king has virtually total power. He h

Viewpoints Nov. 25, 2018

The election of South Korean Kim Jong-yang as president of Interpol put an end to fears that the global police cooperation organization would fall under the control of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the controversy surrounding the election lays bare a more important issue: How does one keep international organizations inclusive without leaving them open to abuse?Last week, the Times of London named Russian police general Alexander Prokopchuk the front-runner in the Interpol election made

Viewpoints Nov. 25, 2018

Ivanka Trump used her personal email account last year to handle as many as 100 discussions of official White House matters. If that doesn’t strike you as a rather ironic turn of events then fine-tune your antennae by looking up any old online video of her father threatening to put Hillary Clinton in jail for using a private email server, calling on Russian hackers to find her missing emails, or praising the FBI for reopening an investigation of the former secretary of state’s “criminal and ille

Viewpoints Nov. 22, 2018

After more than five years in power, Xi Jinping has constructed a singular political persona: of a leader who places the Communist Party and its authority above all, on top of the state, the economy and military.So it may have come as a surprise to see Xi usher China’s top entrepreneurs into Beijing’s Great Hall of the People earlier this month to offer them reassuring bromides about their importance for the country’s economy. “All private companies and private entrepreneurs should feel totally

Viewpoints Nov. 22, 2018

For all the recent debate about creating a joint European army, Germany -- which has the second-biggest military in the European Union -- has little interest in setting up any kind of supranational force under the EU’s command. This reluctance is key to understanding the ineffectiveness of all the bloc’s existing military projects.In a recent op-ed for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen laid out her vision of “an army of the Europeans” -- note the ch

Viewpoints Nov. 22, 2018

China’s vaunted economic managers aren’t infallible -- and they’re currently making a familiar mistake. They are trying to accomplish too many objectives simultaneously, many of which conflict with each other. Instead of engineering a recovery, the resulting confused policy mix is only feeding a growing feeling of uncertainty among Chinese markets, businesses and households. That will continue to depress growth in China -- and the global economy -- in 2019. To be sure, Chinese leaders deserve so

Viewpoints Nov. 20, 2018

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, is not a “competitor” to the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- or, as it’s now known after adding the adjectives “comprehensive” and “progressive,” the CPTPP. Yes, the CPTPP very obviously excludes the People’s Republic of China while the RCEP does not. But, unlike the former, the RCEP is a more traditional sort of trade deal, in which tariff cuts on tradeable goods -- rather than high standards for labor, environmental and intellectual-proper

Viewpoints Nov. 20, 2018