• November 27, 2015

Holidays amid the Threats

“Nobody in Europe will be abandoned. Nobody in Europe will be excluded. Europe only succeeds if we work together.”
– Angela Merkel, December 15, 2010

“Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. Believe me, it will be enough.”
– Mario Draghi, July 25, 2012

“We have to safeguard the spirit behind Schengen,” Mr Juncker told the European Parliament on Wednesday. “Yes, the Schengen system is partly comatose. But . . . a single currency does not exist if...

• November 22, 2015

The Economic Impact of Evil

“Political leaders still think things can be done through force, but that cannot solve terrorism. Backwardness is the breeding ground of terror, and that is what we have to fight.”

– Mikhail Gorbachev

“... Europe exemplifies a situation unfavorable to a common currency. It is composed of separate nations, speaking different languages, with different customs, and having citizens feeling far greater loyalty and attachment to their own country than to a common market or to the idea of Europe.”

• November 14, 2015

The Gig Economy Is the New Normal

An already-confusing employment environment grew even more complicated this past week. Many readers responded to my “Crime in the Jobs Report” letter with their own stories. Some confirmed what I wrote, while others disputed it. Some of the stories I read from readers who are stuck far from where they want to be in this job market were very moving. I think everyone agrees the labor outlook is uncertain. I sense a lot of nervousness, even from those who have secure jobs that pay well. In today’s...

• November 7, 2015

Crime in the Jobs Report

“When more and more people are thrown out of work, unemployment results.”

– Calvin Coolidge, US president, 1923-29, in his role as Mr. Obvious

“Unemployment is of vital importance, particularly to the unemployed.”

– Edward Heath, UK prime minister, 1970-74

• November 1, 2015

Your Own Personal Inflation Rate

“Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber, and as deadly as a hit man.”

– Ronald Reagan

“To me, a wise and humane policy is occasionally to let inflation rise even when inflation is running above target.”

– Janet Yellen