Not for the first time, human rights violations by a Middle Eastern tyrant pose a dilemma for leftists on both sides of the Atlantic. On the one hand, they don't like reading about people being gassed. On the other, they are deeply reluctant to will the means to end the killing, for fear of acknowledging that western – meaning, in practice, American – military power can be a force for good.

The United States is where great things are possible." Those are the words of Elon Musk, whose astonishing career illustrates that the American dream can still come true.

It is getting ever harder to do business in the United States, argues Niall Ferguson, and more stimulus won't help: Our institutions need fixing.

It is still terribly hard for those who opposed her to admit it, but Margaret Thatcher was right about most things.

Why do critics feel obliged to defend a status quo that so many teachers, parents and pupils agree is indefensible?

In Syria, as elsewhere, US military might is the best available means of preventing crimes against humanity

Few issues in economics are more susceptible to political misrepresentation than exchange rates. The past few days have provided another perfect illustration of this point.

We yearn for turning points. Just as economists have predicted nine out of the last five recessions, so journalists have surely reported nine out of the last five revolutions. Every election is hailed as epoch-making. Every president is expected to have a new foreign policy “doctrine.” A minor redesign of a cellular phone is hailed by the devotees of the Apple cult as a “paradigm shift.”