Opinion

  The cross-country demonstrations currently taking place in Vietnam to protest massive fish die-offs along the central Vietnamese coast are truly remarkable. Not only were demonstrations at this scale unheard of even five years ago, but they beg the question of why thousands of demonstrators as far off as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are subjecting themselves to the …

  Dalton Lin SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS Taiwan’s new president, Tsai Ing-wen, finally delivered her keenly anticipated and closely watched inaugural speech on May 20. China had made it clear ever since Tsai’s election that if she hoped for the peaceful and cooperative cross-strait relations over the past eight years to continue, she needed to come to terms with the …

Could online lending cause the next financial crisis? While the odds seem overwhelmingly against it, the recent turmoil at LendingClub — a leading online lender — makes it hard not to ask the question. There are some disquieting parallels with subprime mortgages, which seemed beneficial until sloppy and fraudulent lending practices triggered a wider collapse of confidence. Are we about …

  Campaign for a ‘stay’ or ‘leave’ the European Union (EU) is taking an ugly turn as both sides warn of dire consequences should the UK remain or exit the EU. In fact, both sides blend the scaremongering with facts to canvass votes of the groping voters who may decide the result of referendum. Boris Johnson, the leading ‘leave’ campaign …

Narayana Kocherlakota I see four different schools of thought about how the economies of the U.S. and much of the developed world should be managed. The challenge for the Federal Reserve and other central bankers is that it’s hard to know who’s right. Let’s call the first group of economists the neutralists. They would say that as long as inflation …

After months of street protests and political revolt led Brazil’s legislature to suspend Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and put her on trial for fraud, it’s too early to say how the caretaker government will fare in her place. Little-loved interim President Michel Temer will be contending with both the fallout from the country’s toxic corruption scandal and a record economic …

  The British electorate does not need Americans to tell them how to vote in the June 23 referendum, and I wouldn’t dare try. I have always had great admiration for the British people — and great respect for the country’s democratic traditions. But from across the Atlantic, we Yanks are watching the campaign closely — and many of us …

  Ramesh Ponnuru Interest rates are on the way up, and policy makers at the Federal Reserve want to dispel any doubts you have about it. In the minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting, “most participants” said that raising rates in June “likely would be appropriate” if the economy continues to improve. Presidents of two of the regional Feds said …

  Vietnamese traffic: locals know it; everyone complains about it. Tourists photograph it and share their experiences back home. But for pedestrians, crossing the streets can be a daunting affair. Vietnam has made great strides economically. But amid the soaring economy and rise in tourism, roads and traffic policing have not kept pace with the increasing number of vehicles on …

Amid hedgerows of computer screens in the joint operations center that runs the war against the IS, Marine Brig. Gen. Bill Mullen explains the complex assault that drove the extremist fighters last week from the strategic town of Rutbah at the western edge of Anbar province. The battle showed how the campaign against the IS, which has had a slow …