Opinion

  As if the distress caused by India’s cash ban wasn’t enough, somebody started a rumour that Axis Bank Ltd., the country’s third-largest private sector lender by assets, would have its license revoked. Axis had to issue a statement to quell the speculation. But while this may have been a brief panic, the message to investors and analysts is clear: …

  Jean Pierre Mustier has a mandate to change UniCredit SpA and is wasting none of it. Five months after taking the reins of the Italian lender, the CEO unveiled a mammoth capital raising and a new business plan on Tuesday. The hope is that this covers the cost of UniCredit’s past mistakes. It doesn’t yet provide a sustainable business …

  Stress, I’ve long suspected, may explain why lifespans have been lengthening for high-income Americans but have remained the same or even shortened for low-income and middle-income people. A new analysis from the Hamilton Project released today adds important evidence: Biomarkers of stress have risen much more rapidly for low-income people than for high-income ones. The most recent national data …

  Given the turf wars and interagency rivalries that have long surrounded US special operations forces, President Obama probably didn’t do the commandoes any favor when he delivered his last big military speech at the base in Tampa where they’re headquartered. Obama’s recent visit to MacDill Air Force Base, home of US Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, was in many …

  Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on visas for skilled foreign technology workers has a cheerleader in China. Robin Li, the head of Baidu, recently told a conference that he hopes talented workers who are no longer welcome in the US will “migrate to China and help China play a more important role on the stage of global …

  Amid much protest, Japan’s lawmakers are considering a bill this week that would open their doors to opulent gambling houses. Analysts have dubbed it “manna from heaven” and the “holy grail.” Yet as any gambler will tell you, appeals to the divine are a sure sign of a weak hand. Japan’s casino project, like Asia’s gambling binge in general, …

Oil surged after a landmark deal by Russia and other non-OPEC producers to join the cartel in capping output. They agreed to reduce their production by more than half a million barrels per day. This is a much desired step to stem the global glut that has hammered prices. The agreements, if implemented, would hasten the market’s return to balance …

  Nobody likes corruption, but when fighting it becomes the focus of politics and policy, voters can quickly tire of this. The Romanian Social Democrats proved it on Sunday by winning a landslide election victory a year after its leaders were seemingly disgraced in a string of corruption scandals. The Social Democratic Party, led by Liviu Dragnea, won some 45 …

  Stagnant wage growth for the global middle class has been cited for everything from the rise of Donald Trump, the UK vote to leave the European Union and the referendum that prompted the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. I’d like to add a business victim to the list: Switzerland’s luxury watch industry. The most basic Rolex Oyster …

  The outcome of the Italian referendum last week added to the political, economic and financial uncertainty facing Europe, the world’s largest economic region. Nonetheless, global equity markets shrugged off the turbulence even more quickly than they overcame the shock of the Brexit vote in June. As a result, US indexes have surged to new highs, adding to an impressive …