Open question?

Reader question:

Please explain “open question” in this: How Trump’s war with Iran ends is an open question.

My comments:

Donald Trump, that is, President of the United States.

Alongside Israel, Trump launched the war against Iran in late February.

In other words, nearly three months ago. Still, there’s no indication of any hint of an end to it in sight.

Hence the above statement: “How Trump’s war with Iran ends is an open question.”

And that means it’s anybody’s guess.

In other words, no one knows for sure.

Open question?

Open as in, open for business – in the same way a shop is open for business, ready to receive customers.

Open as against closed. When the shop turns on its shutters and locks the door, of course, it is closed. Customers are no longer entertained.

Now, by analogy, if a question is open (for business), it means it’s open for receiving answers.

So if you have an answer to the question as to how Trump’s war with Iran may end, let us hear it.

An “open question”, in short, is an unsettled question, a question that’s seeking answers.

In our example, people have different opinions about how Trump’s war with Iran will end and nobody can say which opinion is correct.

Nobody can say definitely at any rate.

In addition to how it will end, can anyone tell us when it will end?

You know, initially Trump said it would be a quick war – not even a war, but “a little excursion”, to use his own words. Now it’s been nearly three months and that “little excursion” is still dragging on.

Hence, the other open question: When will Trump’s war with Iran end?

Anyone?

Anyways, no more ado. Let’s read a few media examples of “open question”:

1. January job gains were better than anything the U.S. economy saw in 2025 but not still enough to sound an all-clear on what has otherwise been a stagnant labor market.

With a gain of 130,000 nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate slipping to 4.3%, the lowest since August, the numbers indicated that hiring is at least hanging in there while layoffs appear contained.

However, beneath the hood there were some trouble spots: A continued concentration in just a few fields where hiring is happening; revisions that meant virtually no gains in the second half of 2025, and questions over what happens from here as companies contend with a high level of uncertainty.

“I would anticipate that for the rest of the year, job growth is going to be quite subdued,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon. “Whether it’s as subdued as 2025 ... is still an open question. But I would not expect job growth to be higher than 50,000 for the remainder of 2026.”

Indeed, revisions the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday put job gains last year at just 15,000 a month. The last six months of the year produced a net loss of 1,000 jobs. In the recent words of Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, the year’s job growth was close to “Zero. Zip. Nada.”

Also, nearly all the January jobs came from health care-related sectors, raising questions over the ability of displaced and new workers to be able to get hired.

On top of the anemic gains, Daco has another worry. He sees trouble brewing with the receding income gains for cash-strapped consumers possibly causing damage not readily visible in headline economic numbers.

Average hourly earnings advanced 0.4% in January, slightly higher than expected, but the annual gain of 3.71% was the lowest since July 2024. With retail sales unexpectedly flat in December, and consumer spending responsible for more than two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity, that could spell a potential danger sign.

“We’re heading from a jobless expansion to potentially an income-less expansion, because income is essentially the combination of jobs and wages. With both under pressure, that means that for many families, income and income growth prospects are muted,” Daco said.

- The jobs picture still looks muddy, even with surprisingly strong January growth, CNBC.com, February 11, 2026.

2. The governor of the Bank of England has said that an interest rate cut in March was an “open question” as policymakers suggested the jobs market would remain weak over the coming months.

Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday, Andrew Bailey said he had not seen enough evidence to back an interest rate cut at the Bank’s previous meeting earlier this month.

But he suggested that there was an “open question” about the merits of loosening monetary policy in March.

Bailey’s comments are likely to hold sway over City traders given the governor has been the swing voter in most of the Bank’s latest interest rate decisions.

“We are seeing some softening of the labour market,” he said.

“I think a key question is, will this fall in headline inflation… get reflected through into expectations with inflation, as is normally the case? And then how long will that take to feed through into people’s inflation expectations and then into, for instance, wage bargaining?

“For the moment, we are still a little way off the next meeting, it is a genuinely open question.”

- Bank of England chief: Interest rate cut is an ‘open question', CityAm.com, February 24, 2026.

3. Months after federal immigration agents shot and killed two people and wounded a third in separate incidents during the ICE surge in Minneapolis, the status of the federal investigations into the three shootings remains an open question.

In the case of Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen killed by Border Patrol agents, the Department of Homeland Security told NPR in a statement that the Justice Department is leading an investigation. The DOJ, however, did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.

In the case of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant who was shot by an ICE officer and survived, DHS told NPR an internal investigation is underway.

As for Renee Macklin Good, a U.S. citizen killed by ICE officer Jonathan Ross, DHS said in a statement “the matter remains under investigation.”

But Minnesota authorities say the federal government has given them little indication that the federal probes are progressing. Legal experts agree.

“I would go out on a limb and say we're pretty confident that they’re not investigating these agents for any possible crimes,” says Rachel Moran, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law who studies police accountability.

Moran says a federal officer who kills a person would normally be subject to a joint investigation between state law enforcement and the federal government. What’s happening instead, she says, is much more unusual.

“They appear to be actively preventing the state from investigating,” Moran says.

- Months after the ICE shootings in Minnesota, a federal probe remains elusive, NPR.org, April 10, 2026.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣）