Opinion

  If Richard Nixon could go to China, can Rex Tillerson save Paris? It is but one of many questions, some more answerable than others, about President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state. Unlike the president-elect, Tillerson, the chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp., supports both the global climate-change accord forged in Paris last year and a carbon …

  President Nicolas Maduro’s announcement that all 100-bolivar notes were being called in by the government to combat the hoarding of currency shocked Venezuelans. The largest denomination of country’s crippled currency was pulled from circulation before it was replaced by the new, larger-denomination bills. It led to chaos and confusions. Frustrated people thronged banks and ATMs to deposit the bills. …

    The Maxforce is the European Union team that ordered Ireland to collect billions of euros in back taxes from Apple Inc., rattled the Irish government, and spurred changes to international tax law. You’d think it might have earned the name by applying maximum force while investigating alleged financial shenanigans. It didn’t. It’s just led by a guy named …

  Last week was rough for Pokemon Go, the smartphone game Niantic Inc. released to great enthusiasm in July. On Monday, the company announced a much-anticipated update. Players were looking forward to a bevy of new creatures to catch and maybe a chance to earn double points as they had during Halloween and Thanksgiving promotions. Instead all they got were …

  There is no mystery about Barack Obama’s greatest presidential achievement: He stopped the Great Recession from becoming the second Great Depression. True, he had plenty of help, including from his predecessor, George W. Bush, and from the top officials at the Treasury and Federal Reserve. But if Obama had made one wrong step, what was a crushing economic slump …

  The unemployment rate is down to 4.6 percent, which sounds pretty good. But the unemployment rate doesn’t count people who’ve given up looking for jobs, which is why the employment-to-population ratio, especially the “prime-age” ratio for those 25 through 54, may be a better measure of the health of the labour market. After I wrote about this metric, several …

  If only congressional Republicans were as confident in their ideas for replacing Obamacare as they are in their plans to repeal it. Then maybe the quick strike against the law that they have scheduled for the new year would be accompanied by a constructive debate about the vast yet troubled federal program that tens of millions of Americans have …

  The Pentagon has accused China of seizing an unmanned naval probe in international waters in the South China Sea. The incident can stoke tensions around Beijing military presence in the disputed area. Reports that emerged after the incident said that the underwater vehicle was taken around 50 nautical miles (90 kilometers) northwest off Subic Bay in the Philippines. The …

  This week, after four and a half years of faithful service, I finally replaced my old laptop. I will not bore you with the litany of troubles that led to this decision. The only interesting thing about my decision to replace my old 15-inch Macbook Pro is what I chose to replace it with: a nearly identical Macbook, about …

  Last week, ECB chief Mario Draghi promised another nine months of quantitative easing, but cut his bond purchase program. While the move is a deft way to introduce the prospect of tapering without triggering a market meltdown, the economic backdrop suggests it’s still too soon for tighter monetary conditions. By reducing the dose while extending the prescription, the ECB …