Opinion

  As Russian intelligence agencies escalate their use of the US-created internet as a tool of political sabotage, it’s haunting to recall the famous communist dictum: “The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” Against this menacing background, the subject of internet governance — long an arcane topic of discussion among geeks and technologists — …

  The saying goes like this: counting other people’s sins does not make you a saint. And it defines Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. Trump, a political neophyte, has attacked anything and everything during his primary campaign preceding nomination. He is uncouth, impulsive and belligerent. And he does not mince words. And yes, he shoots from the hip. Many …

  One of the most famous and incisive critics of the banking industry has now taken a job as an adviser to a bank. The outcry that has followed is not only unjustified but also bewildering. Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, has stirred controversy with his new job at Citigroup. Critics say such moves create a …

  The collapse of China’s stock markets a year ago was eye-catching, but in the end, hardly earth-shattering. Despite the pain for millions of retail investors, the fact is that stocks remain a small part of the financial system in China. Their brief, giddy rise and spectacular collapse never really threatened the wider Chinese economy, let alone the global financial …

  The US is running out of places for people to live. Rent is a bigger and bigger part of our cost of living. Here is an index of rental prices divided by median household income: Lots of people have been wondering what to do about this problem. One proposed solution is to deregulate housing and encourage denser development. This …

  Narayana Kocherlakota A wave of popular dissatisfaction, expressed in support for Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, has shocked both of America’s leading political parties. The protest vote, however, shouldn’t come as a surprise: For many important demographic groups, the last two presidencies have been an economic disaster. Let’s start with white Americans. If you’re wondering why Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric …

  Paul Ferraro Water, we are repeatedly told, will be “next oil.” In the U.S., climate projections predict increasing drought frequency throughout most of the country. Around the world, political and even military conflicts due to water scarcity are multiplying. Water is a limited and essential resource, and we are becoming more sensitive to the need to use it wisely. …

  The hostility towards Wall Street remains so great that both political parties say, in their platforms, that they’d like to break up America’s biggest banks. But before engaging in this drastic economic surgery, it’s worth examining whether Dodd-Frank is working. Recall that the law, named after its congressional sponsors, former Sen. Senator Christopher Dodd and former Rep. Barney Frank, …

  In the latest effort to prop up economy and spur growth, Japan’s cabinet on Tuesday approved a massive 28-trillion yen stimulus package, including cash to improve infrastructure and raise the birth rate in the ageing nation. Undoubtedly, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has deployed many strategies to goad the economy to grow. He somehow convinced the country’s central bank to …

  Lionel Laurent Italy has a well-known problem: A stack of bad loans on the books of its banks and nobody willing to buy them at current prices. Until investors get more reassurance on what these loans are truly worth, Italian banks won’t emerge from their crisis — and will suffer more losses in future. The plan to rescue Banca …