Opinion

When legendary physicist Richard Feynman was called in to help solve the mystery of the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986, he didn’t use advanced math. Instead, according to his own account of the incident, he went and talked to the engineers. The workers who actually built the space shuttle, he found, had a good idea of which parts were ...

One of the weirdest aspects of this year’s Democratic presidential campaign is that foreign policy, potentially one of President Trump’s most vulnerable issues, has been nearly absent from the debate. Trump is steering the country into a foolish trade war with China that has spooked the stock market, frightened farmers and fuelled uncertainty among investors at home and abroad. Without ...

Italy’s renewed political upheaval comes at a bad time for the European Union. The latest turmoil could all too easily become a full-blown economic crisis — one that might not be confined to Italy. There’s no quick way to fix the country’s politics. But the EU can resolve, at least, to avoid making matters worse. The latest alarm follows Deputy ...

Recession fears and volatility are rearing their heads again, which means investors may look for safe havens. One path traditionally leads them towards health care, which has often been relatively insulated when equities are shaky and the economy takes a downward turn. People don’t stop getting sick, and safety net programs smooth consumption. America’s aging population means that spending might ...

Eighteen banks coordinating to calibrate a market-driven rate — cynics could be forgiven for thinking that another Libor-rigging scandal is around the corner in China. Perversely, such an outcome would be a good sign for its financial system. Over the weekend, the People’s Bank of China made the loan prime rate, which banks offer to their best clients, the new ...

Negative mortgage rates in Denmark; sub-zero yields on 10-year corporate bonds from Nestle SA; A 100-year Austria bond trading at more than twice its face value; Record low yields on 30-year Treasuries — For fund managers trying to navigate the fixed-income universe, the bond market’s reaction to the prospect of a recession makes life more treacherous every day. Investors see ...

All major miners agree that copper has a bright future. The trouble is how to get at it. Take BHP Group, set to be the world’s biggest producer this year after Freeport-McMoRan Inc. sold down its stake in Indonesia’s Grasberg mine. Costs at BHP’s massive Escondida pit in Chile, which accounts for about one in 20 tons of copper mined ...

It’s generally accepted that one of the keys to a healthy economy is a robust banking system. For some reason, though, central banks seem intent on doing everything in their power to make it as hard as possible for banks around the world to thrive. And so now, as they embark on a fresh round of monetary policy easing to ...

What is striking about the latest bouts of financial turmoil — the recent wild swings in global stock and bond markets — is that they provide a sobering reminder of the potential hazards of economic instability. There are parallels between the present tumultuous situation and past episodes of economic disruption, including the Great Depression of the 1930s. Just for the ...

It’s hard not to see HSBC Holdings Plc’s exclusion from China’s interest-rate reform as a snub. Hong Kong’s biggest bank wasn’t included in a list of 18 lenders that will participate in pricing for a new loan prime rate that the People’s Bank of China will start releasing on Tuesday. The roster includes foreign lenders Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup ...