Opinion

  Does the current interest in “fact-checking” and action to deal with “fake news” serve the cause of better politics? You might think it would, or at least that it couldn’t hurt. I’m skeptical. The main problem is that teams such as FactCheck.org, PolitiFact and the Washington Post’s Fact Checker don’t always do what they say. Often they aren’t checking …

For America, 2016 was a dark year. The country was still at war. Our election was a brutal grudge match that left us more polarized than ever. Our closest allies were rocked by terrorism and turmoil. Adversaries toyed with our politics. Even the basic facts about life and science seemed to be in dispute. However you voted, this was a …

  What do retailers want? Apparently, new Chief Financial Officers (CFO). Neiman Marcus Group Inc. is on the hunt for a new CFO. So are Kohl’s Corp., Coach Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. Whole Foods Market Inc.’s CFO of 29 years — and the longest-serving female CFO in the Fortune 500 — will be leaving next year. In fact, the finance …

  President Barack Obama’s imposition of sweeping new sanctions against Russian spies is long overdue, risky and tarnished by political calculation. It is also the right thing to do. The Obama administration expelled 35 suspected spies and their families out of the country; sanction two intelligence agencies, four intelligence officers, three companies and two alleged hackers; shut two compounds used …

  A gunman opened fire at a crowded nightclub in Istanbul during New Year celebrations. The assailant, armed with long-barrelled weapon and wearing Santa Claus costume, first killed a cop and a civilian outside the club. Then the attacker rained bullets mercilessly on innocent people partying inside the club. It left 39 people dead. The man is still on the …

  The arrival of the earliest English settlers in Jamestown is one of the cornerstones of American history. But few people know that the voyage was inspired and made possible by a financial innovation — the joint-stock company — that emerged in direct response to Queen Elizabeth’s outreach to the Muslim world. The Virginia Company was chartered by King James …

  Nationalizing your biggest bank is never a happy affair but, if you have to, do it quickly. Ukraine moved swiftly last weekend — alongside the International Monetary Fund — to clean up its banking system by taking over Privatbank, securing a stable deal for depositors and preventing systemic risk. There was a $5.5 billion capital shortfall to be filled, …

  For decades, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (or TCM) have disputed accusations that their craft is a pseudo-science, a placebo, exploitative of endangered species, poisonous and ineffective. Now China’s government is fighting on their behalf. On Christmas Day, it passed the country’s first law regulating TCM, with the aim of placing it on an equal footing with science-based Western …

  One insistent question that will shape 2017 is whether we’re witnessing the gradual decay of the post-World War II international order, dominated by the economic and military power of the United States. After the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, it became fashionable to talk of the United States as the only true superpower. Pax Americana would promote peace and …

  My main New Year’s resolution for 2017 is pretty much the same as always: Stop eating Christmas cookies, cut back on the drinking and get back to the gym. This resolve tends to stick for much of the year — only during the next holiday season does everything invariably fall apart again. Maybe I should consider making this a …