OnPoint Subscriber Exclusive

In the United States and Europe, immigration tends to divide people into opposing camps: those who claim that newcomers undermine economic opportunity and security for locals, and those who argue that welcoming migrants and refugees is a moral and economic imperative. How should one make sense of a debate that is often based on motivated reasoning, with emotion and underlying biases affecting the selection and interpretation of evidence?

At the current rate of progress, it will take about 300 years to end child marriage, 286 years to deliver full gender equality under the law, and 140 years to achieve equal representation in leadership positions in the workplace, the United Nations reports. This moral failure is compounded by its enormous opportunity cost: a massive improvement in human welfare.

As Russia prepares for another sham presidential election, the West is introducing new sanctions over the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, considering seizing some $300 billion of Russian central-bank assets, and struggling to overcome political hurdles to continued support for Ukraine. How, if at all, will these developments affect Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on political power?