In their first exuberant days in control of the House of Representatives, Republicans declared that a stricter immigration policy would be one of the top priorities in their imminent clashes with President Obama. Yet tightening our borders against all comers would cede a competitive advantage to other wealthy countries. Immigration...

I feel sorry for Americans who tuned into the World Cup to watch soccer for the first time in their lives during the past week. Yes, there have been a couple of exciting matches. But by and large, the soccer has been pedestrian and disjointed. With 32 teams in the...

The iPhone -- so many reasons to love it, so many reasons to hate it. You can wow your friends with apps like Shazam and UrbanScope. You can marvel at the compass that works even without any signal. But you can't use Adobe's Flash. You can't use Skype over the...

This article was inspired by The Economist's "Ideas Economy" Conference, which took place at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley last week.

"Patient capital" is a crucial ingredient for two components of global economic growth: innovation and the development of poor countries. The owners of patient capital have long...

In the wake of the recent earthquake, groups like Oxfam International and politicians like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Ca.) have been calling for Haiti's public debt to be canceled by its international creditors. In fact, most of Haiti's debt was already forgiven or renegotiated last year, long before the earthquake, as...

In the past two weeks, the people of the world have opened their hearts and their wallets to an unprecedented degree in order to help the people of Haiti recover from the recent earthquake. The amount of money collected for relief and reconstruction has been staggering. Yet no one has...

What is the future of large-scale journalism? Meg Whitman might know more about it than Rupert Murdoch. As television networks, newspapers and websites rely increasingly on freelancers, the market for journalism is heading in only one direction: auctions.

For several years now, large news organizations have been closing bureaus, cutting...

Less than two weeks into President Obama's term, Fidel Castro has already gone on the attack. Castro, who once spoke favorably of Obama, condemned him this week for refusing to unconditionally return the Guantanamo Bay military base to Cuba and for, in Castro's view, supporting the killing of Palestinians by...

To this viewer, it looks like they're doing their level best. And it makes sense; Fox News may be more sympathetic to John McCain, who is trailing in the polls, but CNN needs a tight contest just as badly.

A close race makes for a later night on Election Day,...

Economics is based on one simple idea: people do what is in their self-interest. Any decision they make -- whether it's about which car to buy or which presidential candidate to vote for -- eventually comes down to self-interest. But self-interest doesn't just mean money. It's time to start thinking...

Put people in a situation with well-defined incentives, and they will behave in predictable ways. That's an article of faith for economists, and it's definitely true in the argument over Florida and Michigan's delegates to the Democratic convention.

Why should Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton take the blame for the...

The Democrats must be kicking themselves. They're facing a Republican opponent in November who seems beatable, yet they can't settle on their own contender. Their convention isn't until August 25, so four more months of uncertainty could be on the way. Is there any way to cut the process short?...

Almost eight years after protests overtook the World Trade Organization's ministerial meeting in Seattle, some folks still don't understand what the group is for.

Last week my book tour took me to Seattle, a gorgeous city set between mountains and sea. It's always an especially significant stop for...

Recently I came back to the United States to promote my new book, after an extended stint at my home in Buenos Aires. Down there, I usually write during the day with newscasts from CNN International or BBC World playing in the background. Since I cover the global economy, it's...