First came the news that unemployment had dropped below 8 percent for the first time in years, and then reports that wholesale inventories have risen as well. Now, as the Wall Street Journal reports, retail spending is rose by one percent in September, marking the third consecutive month of increases. Increasing consumer confidence may finally be […]

WRM has an op-ed on infostructure in the WSJ today. He writes: Lobbying for more highways and high-speed rail misses the point. What’s needed instead is support for advancing the Information Age economy. Government policy could reward companies that promote telecommuting and teleconferencing, for example, or otherwise facilitate the transition. (Greens take note: These and […]

Is the EU going to earn its Nobel Peace Prize? This morning, we feel some hope that it might.Up until now, the EU had not matched the severity of the sanctions being imposed by the U.S. against Iran, citing concerns that they were hurting regular Iranians while leaving the regime in Tehran unscathed. Well, that thinking […]

Russian television propagandist Julian Assange may still have a friend in Lady Gaga, but the torrent of support he received from starry-eyed admirers in 2010 has now slowed to a trickle. Last week came the most high-profile defection of all, as the hacktivist group “Anonymous,” which supported Assange in 2010 with a series of cyber-attacks […]

It could have been a moment of triumph for Europe—a symbol of global relevance and power when it was most needed. Instead, the failed merger between continental European aerospace giant EADS and British BAE Systems, two of Europe’s largest defense companies, is an alarming sign of the increasing irrelevance of Europe.The Financial Times has gathered opinions […]

The Libyan afterparty continues: Militias remain Libya’s only effective police force. Some militia brigades have the power to tap phones and hunt down enemies. Others occupy luxury hotels, patrol borders, or control social services, all blessedly unmolested by government interference: [B]rigade leaders said that they, not the government, would choose their new officers, and that […]

Imran Khan is known internationally as a rising star in Pakistani politics, but he’s been on the scene for a while. Once a cricket star and playboy, he’s now one of the most popular politicians in the country and a possible candidate for prime minister.Khan also has a disturbing relationship with the Taliban. Yesterday he […]

This week brings the official launch of Harvard and MIT’s EdX program. According to BostInno (h/t John Ellis), the new program is off to a good start, with more than 100,000 students already registered for the first courses. And as students and teachers become acclimated to the platform, Harvard will continue to tailor the program to […]

New York City’s struggles with the blue model have been well-documented on this blog, but the rest of the state has not been immune from these problems either. The New York Post reports today that Yonkers, Syracuse and Rochester are all asking the state government for a major bailout to avert looming bankruptcies driven by labor and pension […]

For young college grads, things aren’t looking so bright right now. Youth unemployment is high, entry-level wages are low, and student loans have reached a record high at exactly the moment when grads’ ability to pay is lowest. But for those willing to take a few steps off the beaten path, there is one place […]