2026-01-12 19:30:15
About 90 years ago, American farmers in the Great Plains had so ravaged the thin soil there that a series of droughts turned the region into a vast expanse of dust, which formed monstrous storms and polluted the skies in cities hundreds of miles away. Around that same time, many places in the US suffered from the most extreme heat waves in the country’s history, setting temperature records that stand today.
2026-01-12 19:00:17
Shares of General Electric Co. have jumped out of the gate this year faster than the gains of the S&P 500 Index. That doesn’t sound like a stellar achievement unless you consider that the stock has already surged sixfold in the last three years.
2026-01-12 19:00:15
This year promises yet more upheaval, but don’t despair: 2026 also brings the World Cup, the best possible placebo for the pains of everyday life.
2026-01-12 18:30:15
According to just about every significant economic indicator, including the December jobs numbers released Friday, the US economy is doing fine. Not great, mind you: Job growth stalled in 2025. But unemployment is low, gross domestic product growth is solid, and inflation is seemingly trending downward.
2026-01-12 18:00:15
The most celebrated early successes of artificial intelligence were computers beating human champions in games such as chess and Go. Today we are all playing games against AI. The price you are offered on an item at Amazon, the chance of your home office deduction being accepted by the IRS, whether you get called for jury duty, what medical treatments you get — these and many other things are outcomes of contests against AI.
2026-01-12 13:00:17
As the 10th anniversary of Brexit approaches this summer, recent polls suggest nearly 6 in 10 Britons want to rejoin the European Union. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has begun speaking vaguely about a “closer alignment” between the UK and the European single market. Both he and the EU can and should think more boldly.
