A crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” Stanford economist Paul Romer said at a venture capital seminar 21 years ago, referring to the increasing levels of education in other countries that would make them more competitive with the United States.

During a crisis, the news media and voting public will judge the actions of those who hold or aspire to office.

Paul Romer: That’s right. I remember it well. During that trip I visited Windhoek, and I vividly remember waking up to learn that Barack Obama had won the US elections. I was moved by the fact that in a country with a deep legacy of racism and slavery ...