Opinion

  On June 7, the United States, India, and Japan began the twentieth iteration of the Malabar Exercise. In the two decades of its existence, the exercise, which began as a joint U.S.-India naval drill back in 1992, has evolved into not just a key aspect of U.S.-India defense ties, but a key platform for engagement in the Indo-Pacific more …

  David Gitter SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS The term “innovation” has been a hot word these days in Chinese politics. It was one of the five high-frequency terms used by General Secretary Xi Jinping in his deliberations at this year’s National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (the others were reform, people’s livelihood, ecology, and work style), …

There are basically four different activities that all go by the name of macroeconomics. But they actually have relatively little to do with each other. Understanding the differences between them is helpful for understanding why debates about the business cycle tend to be so confused. The first is what I call “coffee-house macro,” and it’s what you hear in a …

WASHINGTON President Obama unintentionally damaged his legacy the other day by urging an expansion of Social Security benefits and, thereby, reminding everyone (and particularly future historians) that he failed to deal with one of the largest issues facing the country: an aging society. “It’s time we finally made Social Security more generous, and increased its benefits so that today’s retirees …

  Opponents in Venezuela are pushing President Nicolas Maduro to the wall, accusing him of driving the oil-rich country to the brink of economic collaps. They have launched a marathon process to call a vote on ousting him from office. But Maduro is defiant as he vowed on Saturday that the government would be suing to have the referendum request …

  Would you lend taxpayer money to Volkswagen AG, the disgraced automaker that’s worth 35 percent less than it was a year ago? How about providing financial succor to Telecom Italia, which both Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings regard as a junk borrower unworthy of investment grade status? Those are just some of the unintended consequences of the …

  Valérie Niquet SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS According to Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo at the 2016 edition of the Shangri La Dialogue, “Asia Pacific civilization blends in harmony, mutual accommodation is vibrant.” In spite of these reassuring words, the martial tone of the speech, the pursuit of Chinese land reclamations in the South China Sea, and the preemptive rejection of …

  According to Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, Russia is pursuing a “divide and conquer” policy in Europe by trying to boost the eurosceptic populists. “It’s regularly discussed,” Zaoralek told Financial Times. “We have no doubt Russia is finding ways to finance this.” Others before him have made similar allegations but, like Zaoralek, they have been unable to produce proof …

  The world’s central banks are increasingly employing a controversial method to stimulate economic growth: negative interest rates. I’m convinced that this can be a valuable tool, but its power depends a lot on how it’s used. First, some context. A bond that promises to pay $1,000 in a year’s time is said to have a negative interest rate if …

  Yuki Tatsumi SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS On June 9, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigate sailed near Senkaku Island. Although the naval vessel stayed in the contiguous zone, and therefore did not enter Japan’s territorial waters, this is the first time that a PLAN vessel came this close to the Senkakus, which are also claimed by China …