Let’s make a deal: I’ll sell you a can of soda for a dollar.Actually, scratch that, $2. Or maybe I’ll give it to you for free.　On second thoughts, you can have a chocolate bar for $2. But you have to give me a liter of soda in return.　It’s not hard to see from the real world why we don’t like to deal with unpredictable negotiators. When a counterparty’s objectives are unclear and her gambits contradictory, we tend to give up on her.So what’s going on with the US government’s attempts to improve

Donald Trump may well be the best thing that’s happened to Southeast Asia’s humble electronics industry in quite a while.Relatively small, and frankly not as sexy as their North Asian cousins, makers of components and devices with factories dotted around the region may get some time in the spotlight thanks to the US administration’s decision last month to levy an additional 25 percent import tax on 818 separate items from China.　The assembly of name-brand gadgets like Apple’s iPhones tends to gr

It’s 2018 and much of the world is still trying to justify why fathers matter.　The US doesn’t federally mandate parental leave of any sort, bracketing it with countries such as Suriname and Papua New Guinea. Large swaths of Asia including India and China have policies only for maternity leave. New Zealand is the sole country with a primary caregiver policy that applies to mothers and fathers.　Ironically, even when time-off policies for fathers are in place, they may mean little in practice. Japa

The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed 65 years ago, July 27, 1953, wrapping up negotiations that spanned 158 meetings over two years and 17 days -- the longest negotiated armistice in modern history. Those protracted talks proved quite costly in human terms: During the negotiation period, United Nations forces suffered 140,000 casualties and the US lost 8,000 soldiers.　Yet the resulting agreement has kept relative peace on the Korean Peninsula for six decades, underpinned one of America’s mo

The plunge of Facebook and Twitter shares in the last two days shows that both companies are hostages to investors’ unrealistic perceptions of how quickly they should grow even as they purge bots and trolls. Moving to eliminate all fake and malicious accounts, as well as making new ones very hard to register, would be scary given these inflated expectations.　Facebook fell 19 percent Thursday after its quarterly earnings announcement, in part because it missed revenue expectations, but also becau

As European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker heads to Washington to try to prevent a full-scale trade war, Europeans should expect him to be treated like a US adversary. In President Donald Trump’s worldview, a strong European Union is not in US interests. His former chief strategist Steve Bannon’s recent activity aimed at weakening the EU is further proof of that.　Juncker will caution Trump against slapping a punitive tariff on European cars, but he’s not bringing a specific offer to Wa

Of all America’s major cities, Chicago may be unique. The rest of the nation -- particularly newer, faster-growing cities -- should pay close attention to its evolution, because the future of America looks a lot like Chicago.　While Chicago has a vibrant core, it’s not as dauntingly expensive as New York or San Francisco. Chicago lacks the population growth that Sun Belt metros like Houston and Atlanta have, but it is no symbol of Rust Belt decline like Detroit has been. How did it achieve this r

Productivity growth in developed countries has been slowing down, threatening to cause a long-term stagnation in living standards. One contributing factor could be that it’s getting more expensive to find new scientific and technological ideas. Economists Nicholas Bloom, Charles I. Jones, John Van Reenen and Michael Webb recently tried to measure innovation in various fields, and found that more and more researchers were needed to produce the same pace of discovery.　That’s an ominous trend. Gove

The “aize slingback kitten heels” ($125) and the “starburst dress” ($128) wont be available much longer. The “ketty sandals” ($99), the “lapis stud earrings” ($25) and the discounted ($109) “classic blazer” will also go to the fashion graveyard. That’s because Ivanka Trump has decided to shutter her namesake apparel and accessories business, about 18 months after her father’s inauguration made her an influential White House figure and globetrotting quasi-diplomat.　The New York Post and the Wall

President Donald Trump lit into critics of his tariffs Wednesday saying discord -- some from Republicans in Congress -- undercuts his ability to narrow the U.S. trade gap with other countries."When you have people snipping at your heels during a negotiation, it will only take longer to make a deal, and the deal will never be as good as it could have been with unity," Trump said on Twitter. "Negotiations are going really well, be cool. The end result will be worth it!"Trump’s latest shot comes as

Trump’s latest tweet telling Iran it would suffer “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” is an almost-verbatim rehash of his August 2017 threat to North Korea; then, Trump promised “fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.” It’s about as serious this time around, but there’s more bad blood behind Trump’s deployment of all caps against Iran.　Trump’s tweet is a response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s speec

This weekend a beleaguered Argentina hosted the G-20 finance ministers to work out the agenda for their leaders’ December conclave in Buenos Aires. While officially focused on infrastructure and the future of work, these more technical discussions were overshadowed by US tariff threats and President Donald Trump’s belligerence toward allies and the World Trade Organization.　The US attack on the global trading system comes as Latin America is finally embracing free trade. In a resurgence of marke

The American left has a lot on its plate -- universal health care, climate change, stagnant wages, wealth inequality and more. But there’s one more issue that needs to be added to the list: environmental justice. Poor Americans, especially minorities, are exposed to too many toxins and environmental hazards, destroying their health and harming their opportunities for advancement.　One of the worst hazards is lead. There is now good evidence that banning leaded gasoline contributed to significant

With friends like these, it’s wise to look around for some new ones.　Donald Trump has called the EU a “foe” and advised British Prime Minister Theresa May to sue the rest of the bloc over Brexit. The US president has already levied tariffs on European steel, and is threatening to do the same on lots of other products, including cars. So it’s hardly a surprise that Europe’s leaders are turning eastward in search of new allies.　Last week, the EU signed a landmark trade deal with Japan, known as JE

Here are some things we know about Maria Butina. She is a 29-year-old white woman with an enthusiasm for guns who has attended multiple National Rifle Association events, socialized with NRA leaders and repeated NRA talking points.She attended Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s 2015 announcement seeking the Republican nomination for president, and later supported Republican Donald Trump for president. She attended the National Prayer Breakfast, a Republican gathering place, in Washington this year.　B

China has suffered a series of diplomatic blows lately. Relations with the US are at a multi-decade low as a trade war escalates. This month, Malaysia suspended four Chinese-backed projects as its prime minister tries to pull away from Beijing’s orbit. From Myanmar to Sri Lanka to Vietnam, China’s overseas investments are being met with a growing backlash.　These are all setbacks to President Xi Jinping’s hopes for global greatness. Despite his aspirations to play the responsible world statesman,

It’s hardly a surprise that Donald Trump broke with longstanding presidential practice and publicly criticized the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates.　Trump told CNBC on Thursday that he was “not thrilled” with signals from the Fed that it planned to raise interest rates. “I don’t like all of this work that we’re putting into the economy and then I see rates going up,” he said. The White House issued a statement saying the president “respects the independence of the Fed,” but he seemed t

Monsoon rains battered down on Manila this week as a tropical storm -- the ninth this year -- howled nearby. Schools, courts and the senate were shut for two days; roads were flooded; public transport was affected. 　It could have been worse.　That the Philippine capital is one big ocean wave away from disaster isn’t news to climate scientists or economists. After analyzing 393 cyclone-vulnerable coastal cities in 31 countries, World Bank economists have concluded that 40 percent of the burden of

In the US and other developed countries, there are three basic philosophies of macroeconomic stabilization. Each of them was present in some form during the Great Depression, and each survives to this day.　The first is Keynesianism, which centers on fiscal stimulus, mainly in the form of increased government spending. The second is monetarism, which holds that getting economies out of recession is the job of the central bank, which can lower interest rates, engage in quantitative easing or ease

For all the disruptions ricocheting through the global oil market as its traditional sulfur dumping grounds of marine bunker fuel and Indian petcoke clean up their act, there’s a darker cloud of pollution billowing on the horizon.　Just 30 percent of global industrial sulfur dioxide emissions come from petroleum. The biggest share, at around 50 percent, comes from burning coal -- and there, too, new regulations are set to disrupt markets.　South Korea this month adopted rules forcing generators to