Opinion

  The Federal Reserve is playing it safe amid the looming uncertainty. That’s what the minutes of its last meeting on July 26-27 reflect. The Fed officials are still divided over interest-rate hike, even though New York Fed chief William Dudley flagged the prospect of an increase as soon as September. However, the minutes clearly show that the policy makers …

  On Wednesday, Indonesia celebrated its Independence Day with a bang — blowing up several Chinese boats that had been caught fishing illegally in its waters and impounded. China doesn’t dispute Indonesia’s territorial claims, but Chinese fishermen have more pressing concerns. According to reports in Chinese state media this week, overfishing and pollution have so depleted China’s own fishery resources …

  How many times have you heard someone say that the Federal Reserve’s asset-purchase program known as quantitative easing was ineffective? At least, that’s what I keep hearing from the usual pundits arguing their case on television and in print. I have my own suspicions that monetary stimulus works well enough to thaw frozen credit markets, as it did amid …

  Nowadays, if you’re a smart college graduate, Silicon Valley and its tech-startup scene is the hot place to be. But 10 years ago, it seemed like everyone with a brain and big ambitions wanted to go to Wall Street. The worlds of investment banking and trading were a golden ladder to the good life. The numbers tell the tale. …

  The fight against the IS may get the headlines. But it’s the military threats from Russia and China that most worry top Pentagon officials — and are driving a new arms race to deter these great-power rivals. This question of how to deal with Russian and Chinese military advances has gotten almost no attention in the 2016 presidential campaign. …

  It’s been a year since a sudden, 1.9 percent decline in the Chinese yuan rattled global markets and prompted fears of a global currency war. China has mostly soothed nerves by moderating the renminbi’s swoon since then. But what should really put minds to rest is the knowledge that no one — not even China, which arguably did power …

  Financial markets are no longer just a barometer. Now they can cause storms. We can see two reasons that this happened: Active investors switched to autopilot, and economic regulators became followers rather than leaders. We can also see two outcomes: perverting the function of markets and creating new uncertainties in the economy. The decision by investors to shift from …

  It’s going to be two months since the June 23 EU referendum and the mounting impact of a plunging pound. A recent report says that the prices of goods – from cars and computers to some foods and property – are increasing. And it is the consumers who are bearing the brunt of the rising costs. The apparent fear …

  It was widely observed that Brexit was driven by anti-immigrant sentiment. A new Ipsos poll confirms that about half of Brits have a negative view of immigration, while only 35 percent view it positively. Much concern has focused upon European Union citizens currently residing in the U.K (they’ll certainly be grandfathered, as will U.K. citizens living in the EU), …

  The world’s great cities could hold the key to the prosperity of the human race. Yet a comprehensive new study points to a worrying trend: The water they need to grow is getting more expensive, because they’re failing to protect the nature that purifies it. Cities are amazing engines of productivity. As the hubs of our modern societies, they …