Free exchange
Our economics column offers rigorous analysis, insights into global trends and policy debates
Finance & economics
Can the world’s most influential business index be fixed?
Two cheers for the World Bank’s new global business survey
Finance & economics
Why economic warfare nearly always misses its target
There is no such thing as a strategic commodity
Finance & economics
Why the Federal Reserve is split on the future of interest rates
Jerome Powell began with a big cut. What comes next?
Finance & economics
What the history of money tells you about crypto’s future
The thread from shipwrecks and sheep flocks to digital currencies
Finance & economics
An American sovereign-wealth fund is a risky idea
Donald Trump’s latest proposal has worryingly broad support
Finance & economics
Why Oasis fans should welcome price-gouging
There are worse things in life than paying a fair price
Finance & economics
Vast government debts are riskier than they appear
A provocative new paper gets central bankers talking at Jackson Hole
Finance & economics
Artificial intelligence is losing hype
For some, that is proof the tech will in time succeed. Are they right?
Finance & economics
EU handouts have long been wasteful. Now they must be fixed
New research highlights their failures
Finance & economics
Americans are wrong to wish for an era of stable bipartisanship
Even though political instability is an economic threat
Finance & economics
Xi Jinping really is unshakeably committed to the private sector
He balances that with being unshakeably committed to state-owned enterprises, too
Finance & economics
How much cash should be removed from the financial system?
Undoing quantitative easing provokes fierce debate
Finance & economics
The economics of the tennis v pickleball contest
Don’t hate the new players—or the new game
Finance & economics
Is America approaching peak tip?
The country’s gratuity madness may soon calm, so long as Donald Trump does not get his way