Opinion

  Many politicians and commentators are calling for a big burst of spending on infrastructure. On his blog, my esteemed Bloomberg View colleague Tyler Cowen raises an interesting question: What is the opportunity cost of government spending — that is, what is the value of the other uses to which the money and resources could be put? To answer this …

  Nevada, which calls itself the “Battle Born State,” actually was born prematurely because of Republicans’ anxiety. Now, 152 years later, it again is a subject of their anxiety. Entering 1864, Abraham Lincoln and his party were intensely, and reasonably, in doubt about his re-election. So, scrambling for every electorate vote, Republicans decided to conjure three from thin air — …

  As long as there are eager buyers of bridges, there will be willing sellers. Oil has rallied 8 percent over the past week or so on the pleasingly oxymoronic notion of a rekindled freeze. The big move came on Thursday when Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Khalid Al-Falih, indicated the OPEC kingpin was open to taking action to stabilize prices. …

  China’s Anbang Insurance Group is stretching the definition of time with its planned acquisition of U.S. insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life. It’s been more than 10 weeks since the Beijing-based company withdrew its approval request with the New York Department of Financial Services for its $1.6 billion acquisition of the life insurer, saying it planned to refile “in the …

  UAE has bettered its global position in innovation. The country ranked first among Arab countries and 41st worldwide in terms of overall performance on 2016 Global Innovation Index, which was announced at the UN headquarters in Geneva. It is up from second in the Arab World and 47th globally in 2015. The Innovation has taken the centre stage as …

  John Maynard Keynes wrote in 1930 that “if economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, compe tent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.” Almost a century later, he’s getting his wish. Economists tend to be a grandiose bunch. They advise presidents and billionaires. They are generally unashamed about offering semi-professional opinions on …

  Shelly Banjo America’s largest department store chain pleasantly surprised Wall Street last week by announcing plans to close 100 stores. At 12 percent of its total store base, that’s more locations than it shuttered during all of the last six years. Macy’s shares spiked 17 percent on the news, as investors shrugged off a sixth straight quarter of declining …

  Nisha Gopalan Buy on rumour, sell on fact? China has given its blessing to a pipe that links the stock exchanges of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, opening the nation’s market further to foreign investors and allowing more funds to flow in the opposite direction. Anyone hoping the news will juice a rally in Chinese shares may be disappointed, though. …

  Job insecurity is a central theme of the 2016 campaign, fueling popular anger about trade deals and immigration. But economists warn that much bigger job losses are ahead in America — driven not by foreign competition but by advancing technology. A look at the numbers suggests that America is having the wrong debate this year. Economic security won’t come …

  The buyout Masters of the Universe are getting creative in Silicon Valley. This year, technology companies have made up about 19 percent of all US private equity buyouts, the industry’s largest share of PE deals since at least 2004, according to Bloomberg data. Some of the eye-catching private equity tech takeovers in 2016 were Thoma Bravo’s $3 billion buyout …