Opinion

  Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is forcing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make a choice. The central bank will have to decide whether to let the masala bond market die slowly or gain new life in a different form than was envisaged when it allowed Indian companies to raise debt in rupees overseas. ReNew Power Ventures Private Ltd, …

  At a meeting with small-business leaders this week, President Donald Trump pledged to do “a big number” on the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which he blamed for cutting off the bank lending needed for growth. “It’s almost impossible now to start a small business and it’s virtually impossible to expand your existing business,” he said. Trump is wrong about small-business …

  Amnesty International released horrifying details of mass hangings, exterminations, abuse and torture taking place in Syrian human ‘slaughterhouse’. Assad regime has killed more than13,000 people since the start of the 2011 uprising in mass hangings at Saydnaya Prison, north of Damascus. According to Amnesty report, 20-50 people were hanged each week at the prison. The killings were authorized by …

  There’s been some controversy over when Donald Trump decided to run for president. Some say it was at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, when he was roasted by both Seth Meyers and President Obama. I think it happened much earlier: August 29th, 1997, the date that Skynet became self-aware. Skynet is the artificial intelligence in the 1984 …

  After its defeat in China, Uber Technologies Inc. can’t afford to lose a second billion-people-plus market to a local incumbent. So the ride-hailing company has introduced a service in India to suit tastes there. Letting customers book the same cab for as long as 12 hours — instead of finding a new one for every journey — doesn’t have …

  President Donald Trump seems determined to start a fight with China over trade. He’s appointed notable China skeptics to his economic team, badgered companies like Apple Inc. to stop making products on the mainland, and threatened tariffs of 45 percent on Chinese goods. He hopes to get companies to move their manufacturing operations back home and create jobs in …

  Israel’s parliament passed a bill to retroactively legalise thousands of West Bank settler homes built on privately-owned Palestinian land. The move has triggered international outrage and will lead to setting up a court fight where the politically charged law may be overturned. The European Union postponed a February 28 meeting with Israel meant to signify improved relations and Jordan, …

  Each year I perform the exercise of picking what I think is the most underrated (and overrated) economy in the world. Past winners have included Germany, Mexico and, more recently, the Philippines. The designation is tricky, because it can go to an ailing country with an excessively bad reputation or maybe to a known star with virtues beyond what …

  The going-concern issue is becoming a problem in Singapore. Ezra Holdings Ltd., an oil-services company, was the latest to indicate it faces debt hurdles that require a restructuring. Under Singapore law, as in the US, that could mean a stay on interest payments until creditors and shareholders agree on a balance sheet that allows the company to keep operating …

  Social scientists have always been fascinated by crowds. From guessing the weight of a cow to identifying which company built the faulty part in the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the many have often been able to outguess the expert few. Crowd wisdom is often cited as the justification for the idea of efficient asset markets — many investors, each …