The deficit for June alone was a staggering $864 billion. The pandemic has been a health and economic disaster for the United States and is on track to being an education disaster as well. But long after an effective vaccination has been discovered, the events of 2020 could figure in another disaster: a forced reduction in Medicare and Social Security benefits, as well as unprecedented tax hikes, to deal with massive national debt. The U.S. was already on track for a fiscal reckoning before...

(AP) NFLers have at least $610,000 reasons to risk their health. Not amateurs. Economists have a useful term — moral hazard — to describe situations in which an individual, a group of individuals or an institution approve of risky activity because they are shielded from the consequences if something goes wrong. A huge recent example: Lenders’ decision during the housing bubble that began in the late 1990s to offer variable-rate home loans with little scrutiny to unqualified borrowers who...

Presidential abuses of power deserve bipartisan criticism, not conditional support. The core of American democracy — the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches — is under assault like never before. The biggest transgressor by far is President Donald Trump. His assertion Saturday that he could use executive orders to provide tens of billions of dollars to unemployed Americans and could suspend collection of payroll taxes without legislative approval is a...

In 2014, China announced it would set up a system to judge its citizens: on their trustworthiness, their public and social media behavior, the wisdom of their purchasing habits, how often they play video games, their interactions with law enforcement and government officials, whether they clean up after their dogs and more. Many pundits and academics saw this as an extraordinary step by an authoritarian state to enforce conformity on its 1.3 billion-plus residents. China isn’t doing this just...

In 2014, China announced it would set up a system to judge its citizens: on their trustworthiness, their public and social media behavior, the wisdom of their purchasing habits, how often they play video games, their interactions with law enforcement and government officials, whether they clean up after their dogs and more. Many pundits and academics saw this as an extraordinary step by an authoritarian state to enforce conformity on its 1.3 billion-plus residents. China isn’t doing this just...