Fiscal, structural and trade policies should first remove obstacles to faster growth

A stunning 906,000 more people were at work in September than August. The total employment level showed 154.3 million Americans were at work, easily a record.

Reforms are more potent and easier to implement when economies are healthier

Rising interest rates and rising home prices are cutting into mortgage demand, as fewer consumers have the incentive to refinance or buy a home.

For an oil-reliant economy that's in the throes of a prolonged slump in crude prices, combating terrorism and fending off questions about its president's health, Nigeria has managed to defy the odds.

IBM dominated the early decades of computing with inventions like the mainframe and the floppy disk. Its offices and factories, stretching from upstate New York to Silicon Valley, were hubs of American innovation long before Microsoft or Google came along.

The global economy is continuing to expand. This has been a good year, and growth will continue into 2018, even if it is not quite as strong in every part of the world.