Opinion

  Well before the Brazilian Senate threw Dilma Rousseff out of office on Wednesday, by a commanding 61 votes to 20, even her most fervent supporters sensed her days as head of state were numbered. Yet to judge by the commotion from her loyalist rearguard, you’d think a political comeback were underway. The suspended president took the stand at her …

  Finland’s flirtation with an unconditional, universal basic income has entered a decisive stage: Draft legislation for a pilot project has been presented for public discussion, which will run until Sept. 9. It’s clear that what the Nordic nation wants to try is neither overly ambitious nor particularly useful. Paying every citizen of a country the same amount of money …

  Everyone knows the story of IEX by now, but let’s tell it again anyway. Some investors were sad. They were sad because they wanted to buy some stock, and their computers told them that there were 5,000 shares of the stock available on different exchanges at a price of $20 each, but when they sent an order to buy …

  By ordering Apple to pay 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, the European Union has created a somewhat farcical situation. Ireland doesn’t want the money, which amounts to more than four months’ tax revenue for the small nation, and the U.S., where the iPhone maker is headquartered, is on the tax-avoidant company’s side. European Competition …

  One of the big debates in health care right now is whether to create a public option for health insurance. Most observers of Obamacare agree that the big problem is private insurers pulling out of health-care exchanges. That leaves smaller states with only one or two insurers participating, which kills competition in insurance markets and raises costs. Although there …

  It’s been a tough summer for China’s movie business. In what’s usually blockbuster season, box-office sales declined for the first time in five years. In July alone, theater visits fell 15 percent. Things are looking especially grim for Chinese films: They’ve been underperforming foreign competition so badly that the government suspended a longstanding moratorium on summer Hollywood flicks intended …

  The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and European Union (EU) has apparently been hit by trust deficit and there are signs that will be dragged out. Germany and France have showed a joint front to oppose the proposed deal as it stands today. The most stinging remark came from France’s junior trade minister Matthias Fekl, …

  I argued last week that the high cost of housing in cities such as New York and San Francisco has a bright side for the larger U.S. economy: As people who would like to live in these highly desirable but dauntingly expensive areas are priced out, they choose instead to settle in upwardly mobile communities that benefit from the …

  Ma Bell came back from the grave Monday, saving AT&T from the supervision of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC had sued the company for intentionally “throttling” the mobile internet for its unlimited data customers when they passed a certain usage. A federal appeals court rejected the suit on the ground that as a common carrier, AT&T is exempt …

  In early August, Japan’s Coast Guard witnessed an unconventional Chinese assault on its territorial waters. According to Japanese officials I met with last week, at least 300 Chinese “fishing vessels” began incursions into the exclusive economic zone around the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, disputed territory administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan as well. Japan has seen similar …