Opinion

  There was a brief moment after Donald Trump’s election when it was conceivable to ask whether he would strive to be a “uniter” or a “divider.” The moment passed quickly as Trump made it clear that he does not intend to abandon the style of politics — insulting and divisive — that got him elected. His declaration last week …

  It’s nearly a decade since Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group Plc was bailed out. Today, the lender is still owned by taxpayers, shunned by shareholders and ruled by regulators. The management team has little else it can really do but keep shrinking and hope the bank can eventually buck a nine-year run of losses. These are noble objectives, …

  Say this for Donald Trump: He is forcing Europeans to think more seriously about how to protect and defend their continent. The US president’s disparagement of NATO goes too far, and his focus on getting Europeans to spend more on defense is misplaced. That said, European nations have for too long treated their defense budgets as an extension of …

  Kim Jong Nam, the oldest half-brother of North Korean’s leader Kim Jong Un, was murdered in Malaysia more than a week ago. Initial report said that two unidentified women killed Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur’s airport with a poison needle and fled the scene. Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of former leader Kim Jong Il, had lived …

  The Soviet Union had a reputation for presenting fake economic statistics to the world, in order to avoid having its dysfunctional system look embarrassing in front of its rivals. But as the decline and collapse of the Soviet Union illustrates, it’s impossible to conceal poor economic performance forever. There are too many alternative data sources that will eventually show …

  Safran SA launched a weak counter-attack against hedge fund TCI Fund Management Ltd.’s opposition to its proposed 9.7 billion euro ($10.3 billion) takeover of Zodiac Aerospace. The French jet engine maker is still short on strategic and financial justifications for the deal. Nor has it addressed the strong common-sense argument for giving shareholders a simple vote on the whole …

  Every time a government sets out to abolish something people like, the well-liked thing moves to where it can’t be stopped. This has happened with prohibition, gambling, the war on drugs and digital piracy. Now it’s happening in China, where the government has been trying to crack down on bitcoin. As part of an effort to control capital outflows, …

  Financial markets have been sending an interesting message about President Trump and Russia. After Trump’s election, investors seemed to be betting that sanctions against Moscow would soon be eased. But this confidence collapsed in late January, and Russian stocks plummeted. The numbers tell the story: From Nov. 7, the day before the election, to Jan. 27, the MICEX index …

  The European Central Bank (ECB) just can’t get a break. After many years of unconventional monetary measures that have drawn lots of political criticism and attacks and forced it to intervene uncomfortably in the functioning and pricing of financial markets, it was hoping that a pickup in euro-zone economic activity would allow it to declare victory and gradually normalize …

  Nearly a decade after a devastating financial crisis, the U.S. remains poorly prepared for a repeat. So it’s unsettling that Daniel Tarullo, the Federal Reserve official who has done the most to make the country’s banks stronger, plans to step down — and all the more important that President Donald Trump find a worthy replacement. The 2008 crisis exposed …