Opinion

Europe’s banks have come a long way since the euro zone crisis. Lenders have halved their piles of non-performing loans from 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) in 2014 to 543 billion euros in the third quarter of 2019. However, markets still doubt lenders’ real strength, as you can see from their depressed price-to-book ratios. The blame falls, in part, on ...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent blowup at NPR host Mary Louise Kelly was not an isolated, out-of-character moment or a particular surprise for those who have worked with him — or been on the receiving end of one of his blasts. Kelly’s radio interview on January 24 was going fine until she pressed Pompeo on whether he owed an ...

A UK rate cut was not to be — well not yet anyway. After an entirely sensible decision at his final meeting before bowing out, the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will hand over the reins to his successor Andrew Bailey in mid-March without any radical change. With such a sharp recovery in a wide range of UK confidence ...

Alan Jope’s efforts to instill purpose into the British heritage tea brand, PG Tips, have been all about bringing people together over a nice cup of tea. Now Unilever NV’s chief executive officer wants to cleave the tired tea business apart from the rest of the consumer giant. He’s conducting a strategic review of the division, which also includes the ...

Christine Lagarde sounded mildly optimistic as she talked about the euro region’s economy last week. The disappointing data gives her a reality check. The situation remains fragile and the European Central Bank (ECB) is still far from its inflation target. The newly installed ECB president would be wise to return to her earlier caution. The monetary union expanded by a ...

Remember Aibo, the computerised dog Sony Corp. started selling in 1999 as the first personal robot? Hiro Mizuno, the chief investment officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), does. So he asked Sony’s computer science lab unit to build him a cyberhound using artificial intelligence to help oversee the external fund managers who manage GPIF’s $1.6 trillion in assets. ...

When even LVMH misses estimates, it’s not a good look for the luxury sector. While the owner of the Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior brands still delivered 8% growth in organic sales in the final quarter of the year, this was slightly below the consensus of analysts’ estimates of 8.7%. Organic sales from the fashion and leather goods division rose ...

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times last year and pledged not to increase them absent meaningful increases in wages and inflation — welcome news for the labour market and economic expansion. But in a twist, the shift wasn’t welcomed by one group of people: would-be homebuyers. Although lower mortgage rates mean more households can afford a higher purchase ...

When the Senate acquits the president, he will launch a vindication tour proclaiming that his prosecution was persecution that validated his coveted victim status: Crybaby conservatism’s leader has been tormented by unhinged elites. The entire impeachment episode might boost his reelection chances, but only slightly, because voters who are undecided about him are thin on the ground. Nevertheless, there is ...

China has a bigger and more sophisticated toolbox to combat any economic slowdown from the coronavirus than in 2003, when it battled the Sars pandemic. The challenge now is a worsening backdrop both domestically and abroad, and how both hamper the effectiveness of Beijing’s response. It’s hard to be precise about the damage given the situation is still unfolding. Bloomberg ...