Opinion

  Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s push further into bricks and mortar may be just in time. The Chinese e-commerce giant is leading a bid to take department store operator Intime Retail Group Co. private, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Alibaba and Intime’s founder Shen Guojun will pay HK$10 ($1.30) for the Intime shares they don’t …

  Another holiday shopping season has passed, and though the rapid growth of online spending has been a well-told story for a number of years now, it’s worth highlighting the latest developments and what they mean for investors. Internet sales rose an estimated 15 percent, to 19 percent, from a year earlier, while those at traditional stores fell 10 percent …

  The intelligence community’s allegation that Russia intervened covertly in the 2016 election describes a significant assault on our democracy. The country needs to know more: The charge needs to be followed up with an independent investigation that continues after Donald Trump becomes president on January 20. Congress should commit now to such a bipartisan inquiry. If there’s a possibility …

  If the market performance of Samsung Electronics Co. is anything to go by, the hedge-fund Davids appear to be winning against the Goliaths of South Korea’s chaebol. Samsung shares rose 2.8 percent Monday to close at 1.86 million won, the highest since listing 42 years ago. Since a surprise $10 billion stock buyback in October 2015 that was widely …

  So far the new Republican Congress has proved better at identifying things it doesn’t like — Obamacare, for example, or an independent ethics office — than actually getting rid of them. On one issue, however, Congress may yet get its way: abortion. Last week a House panel issued a report recommending that the federal government restrict or end medical …

  India’s note ban saga continues. And so the common man’s sufferings. Indian Prime Narendra Modi’s shock note ban sparked cash chaos. And it is only obvious in a country where 90% transactions are done in cash. Modi said that the suffering of his compatriot is for the better cause. He asked citizens to give him 50 days to make …

  At a recent forum, China’s Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao warned that a ‘zero-sum’ mentality in economic relations between the US and China hurts both countries. He’s right: Rising protectionism, of the kind favored by President-elect Donald Trump, is a danger to the still-sputtering global economy. What China doesn’t yet accept is that much of the ire against free …

  The UK government is no longer the largest shareholder of Lloyds Banking Group Plc, the recipient of a 20 billion-pound ($24 billion) bailout at the height of the financial crisis. That’s good news for the British taxpayer, which wants its money back, and for the bank, which wants independence. But it’s only an incremental step in a very long …

  Lots of economic policy debates end up going like this: First, one economist or policy wonk will propose a government intervention — a minimum wage increase, a tax on sugar or subsidies for solar electricity. Another person, usually someone of a more free-market bent, will demand to know exactly which market failure justifies the intervention. A market failure, in …

  Watching Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, a gruff, 50-year veteran of the spy world, answer congressional questions on Thursday, you couldn’t help wondering if perhaps this time Donald Trump has met his match. To recall a quip made years ago by a prominent Washington lawyer, Clapper is not a “potted plant.” He has served Republicans and Democrats alike …