Opinion

It’s time to cut the GDP some slack. Overhauling the GDP — as some critics would — threatens to politicize one of our most useful economic indicators. It could be twisted to advance or retard political agendas. This is a bad idea. First, some background. GDP stands for “gross domestic product,” and it’s our standard measure of economic growth. When …

  The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement will face its first acid test when signatories gather in Bonn, Germany, on Monday to iron out details and set new mechanisms to fund climate adaptation projects amid reports the global warming has caused the water-rise that vanished five Islands of Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. Against the backdrop of such a grim …

  Andrew Collier SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam later this month, taken together with the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, signals a closer economic alliance between the two countries. The TPP will be a boon to Vietnam – but could be a problem for China. The TPP – which has been signed but not ratified …

  Christopher Flavelle The proposal boiled down to just three paragraphs in the Federal Register: Would it be a good idea, the Federal Emergency Management Agency wondered, if Washington gave states a financial incentive to pass building codes, better protecting their residents against the effects of climate change? That was in January. By March, the response from states was clear: …

  While showing off some new UAZ Patriot pickup trucks armed with machine guns and grenade launchers to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, a general couldn’t open the door of one of the trucks and, in his desperate desire to please the commander-in-chief, ripped off the door handle. “Well done,” Putin said, laughing. Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization …

  While Aung San Suu Kyi’s inauguration as Myanmar’s state councilor early last month was largely academic, it certainly wasn’t short on significance. With the globally revered democracy icon vowing to be “above the president” anyway, the international community is now queuing up to engage with the once pariah state. But though Suu Kyi’s ‘brand’ has the power to attract …

  UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s anti-corruption summit coincided with the release of an International Monetary Fund staff paper that explains why corruption is bad for economies and suggests ways to eradicate it. But neither these recommendations nor those expressed at the forum will do much to fix the developing world’s problems. That would require much more than better anti-graft …

  In his attempt to score a point against the opposition, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has declared a three-month state of emergency to face what he called “threats from abroad”. Lacking charisma of his predecessor Hugo Chavez, Maduro grapples with the economic crisis triggered by the low oil prices, and emboldened foes who are gearing up for a vote to …

  Sara Hsu Recently, in the People’s Daily an unidentified “authoritative figure” discussed China’s likely growth trend, referring to it as an “L-shaped trend.” Observers have assumed that the “authoritative figure” is a top official who cannot be named. The official emphasized that in the first quarter of the year, conditions have stabilized and reform has continued, but that reliance …

  The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte has just won the country’s presidency with a platform that focuses primarily on severely cracking down on crime. Duterte’s win might be the first electoral outcome in a year where several elections might lead to surprising winners. He is a controversial figure partly because of his unacceptably offensive remarks on women and reputation as a …