Opinion

  China’s critics are united on one point: The country’s central problem is that it’s moving too slowly to embrace free markets. For now, however, the bigger risk lies in moving too fast. It’s important to remember how China reached this point. For any big economy, coordination poses a steep challenge. The problem is particularly acute at early stages of …

  Indonesia is arguably the least well-known big country in the world, punching far below its weight when it comes to foreign affairs. Now comes a golden opportunity to change that – a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) due next year, or in 2018. The timing could not be more apt, coming right as the country has …

  There is an excellent reason for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to want a good relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: The European Union’s March deal with Turkey appears to have defused the refugee crisis for now. Merkel can now concentrate on political damage control and on restoring her position in the EU, undermined by a costly flutter of …

  “One fine day, in a fit of euphoria, after he had picked up the telephone and taken an order for zero-coupon bonds that had brought him a $50,000 commission, just like that, this very phrase had bubbled up into his brain. On Wall Street he and a few others — how many? — three hundred, four hundred, five hundred? …

  US President Barack Obama’s last presidential visit to the UK will be in the eye of storm as he plans to make a strong case against Brexit amid criticism from supporters of the ‘leave EU’ campaign. His visit comes ahead of the June 23 referendum when Britons will be asked if they want to remain in the 28-member EU. …

  Mark Buchanan Humans have a terrible track record of predicting financial crises in time to fend them off. Some computer scientists think that algorithms might help. Given the right information, some crises can be foreseen. In “The Big Short,” Michael Lewis told the story of the scattered few who saw the imbalance growing in the mortgage market and profited …

  Largely described as a power in long-term decline, the Russian military under President Vladimir Putin has embarked on a military modernization programme that may be gaining the envy of some in Washington. Putin has invested billions, supported by revenues during the 2004-2014 period when oil prices were high. These efforts have led to impressive improvements within Russia’s conventional forces …

  In a bid to revive its flagging economy, China has gone back to its old ways, with rapid credit growth sparking a pick-up in the “old economy” sectors of construction, housing and manufacturing. However, keeping the good times rolling by delaying reforms could yet bring bigger problems for the world’s second-largest economy, according to analysts. On Friday, Asia’s economic …

A new Cybersecurity Act will be tabled in Singapore’s parliament next year, Singapore’s minister for communications and information, Yaacob Ibrahim, announced on April 11. According to Yaacob, the bill is aimed protecting the country’s critical information infrastructure. The bill will empower the year-old Cyber Security Agency (CSA) to “manage cyber incidents and raise the standards of cybersecurity providers in Singapore,” …

  There are sometimes good reasons to be worried about the U.S. national debt. The debt has to be serviced, and that requires collecting taxes, which distort the economy. If government debt gets so large that the only way to avoid a default is to hold down interest rates forever, those low rates can eventually have negative effects on the …