WASHINGTON — There are few economic problems more frustrating than the stubborn gaps in wages and unemployment rates between blacks and whites. Despite decades of trying to reduce or eliminate these gaps, black workers continue to experience higher unemployment rates and lower wages than whites. That’s true even after correcting for age, education and occupational […]

WASHINGTON — As Labor Day has just passed, it is worthy to note that the American middle class survives. Indeed, it is expanding. That is not the conclusion of some arcane scholarly study. It is the judgment of Americans themselves, though it hasn’t received much attention from politicians or the media. Public opinion polls depict […]

WASHINGTON — China may be an even bigger economic deal than we thought. Almost everyone knows that, in the past three decades, China has gone from a huge and poor nation to the world’s biggest exporter and second-largest economy. Now, in a new report, two economists claim that China’s emergence explains a lot more. Specifically, […]

WASHINGTON — William Cline is going against the grain. Cline, a well-known economist, isn’t convinced that the stock market is wildly overvalued. That’s an increasingly lonely view. “Warning Signs Mount as Stocks Stumble,” The Wall Street Journal headlined earlier this week. “Investors are running out of reasons to keep buying U.S. stocks, exposing a growing […]

WASHINGTON — There is much to dislike in President Trump’s trade agenda, but he is correct on one subject: China’s relentless quest to extort American “intellectual property” — technologies, business methods, patents. Trump took a swipe last week at China’s policies by ordering his top trade officials to investigate. Whether he can alter China’s behavior […]

WASHINGTON — A persisting puzzle about the U.S. economy is how it can seem both strong and weak. On the one hand, it remains a citadel of innovation, producing new companies like Uber. On the other, the economy is expanding at a snail’s pace of 2 percent annually since 2010. How could both be true? […]

WASHINGTON — The argument between the Trump administration and its critics over a sustainable rate of economic growth raises profound questions about America’s future. Have we entered a prolonged period of slow growth? If so, how does that alter society and politics? Or will the “right” policies raise growth to past levels? If you haven’t […]

WASHINGTON — No one is working harder for the impeachment of Donald Trump than Donald Trump. If we have learned anything about this president, it is that he has a compulsion to be the center of attention. He can’t bear being out of the limelight and will say almost anything — no matter how offensive, […]