Comment

Restoring faith in the feasibility and desirability of the middle – belief that the middle is strong enough to promote stability and prosperity – will take time, and sustained effort. A column by Mohamed A. El-Erian.

No one knows how long Xi will remain in office. If China stays the course, the succession question is inconsequential. If China slips, the verdict will be very different. A column by Stephen S. Roach.

The EU-Commission should pursue a de-escalation strategy, offering to reduce tariffs on US imports and to resume negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. A column by Hans-Werner Sinn.

The stalemate is just a palliative. The election shows that Italians are in no mood to bid for a recovery, something that must worry the European Union. A column by Fabrizio Zilibotti.

We need to reassert control over the financial sector, to ensure that it is serving the economy, not vice versa, by advancing a set of goals upon which the world agrees. A column by Bertrand Badré.

Neither policymakers nor markets should be betting on the slow growth of the past decade carrying over to the next. But that might not be entirely welcome news. A column by Kenneth Rogoff.

US negotiators will use the threat of imposing the tariffs on Chinese producers as a way to persuade China’s government to abandon the policy of «voluntary» technology transfers. A column by Martin Feldstein.

The original Bretton Woods architecture tried to link economic and political interests with security interests. The EU should revive this now. A column by Harold James.

Growth in Chinese private consumption as a share of GDP or changes to the hukou system will tell us more than comments about the ambition of Xi Jinping. A column by Jim O’Neill.

For too long, Italy has ignored its brain drain. Paradoxically, the current stalemate provides an excellent opportunity to address it. A column by Edoardo Campanella.

The Northern Ireland problem together with the EU’s negotiating leverage mean that the outcome must be a customs union. A column by Barry Eichengreen.

With dysfunctional policies pointing to a further compression of saving in the years ahead, the myth of sound US fundamentals has never rung more hollow. A column by Stephen S. Roach.