Opinion

After a messy selection process, the European Union’s finance ministers have picked Kristalina Georgieva as their candidate to lead the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Bulgarian economist, currently chief executive of the World Bank, has suitable credentials but it would be wrong of the IMF board to rubber stamp her nomination just because a European has always held the post. ...

Cuban socialism has survived the collapse of the Soviet Union. So however much pain the Trump administration means to exact upon the island economy through a new bout of sanctions, the imminent demise of the autocrats in Havana seems unlikely. No doubt, the recent US-imposed measures, including a ban on cruises, restrictions on remittances and a green light for aggrieved ...

To call it brazen would be an understatement. A year ago, the European Commission fined Google parent Alphabet Inc. 4.3 billion euros ($4.8 billion) and ordered it to stop making its search engine the default on Android-powered smartphones. The tech behemoth presented its remedy: it will ask other search engines to pay for the privilege. When setting up their handsets, ...

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish clim-ate activist, recently ann- ounced that she will cross the Atlantic Ocean by boat to attend a United Nations global warming summit in New York. She does not believe in flying in airplanes, for the obvious reason that air travel is a contributor to the carbon emissions problem. I am here with a simple message: ...

Winnow: verb. To expose (grain or other substances) to the wind or to a current of air so that the lighter particles (as chaff or other refuse matter) are separated or blown away — Oxford English Dictionary It is time to dust off this marvelously appropriate verb for its quadrennial use to describe the thinning of a field of presidential ...

Verizon Communications Inc. is the wireless industry’s sleepi- ng giant. Suddenly, its smal-ler rivals — AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Dish Network —are giving it every reason to wake up. Shares of Verizon have been a snooze this year, as AT&T steps up the competition and the drama around T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint continues to dominate the news. Verizon said it ...

With markets focussed on rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and what sorts of policy levers might be used in a downturn, we got good news this week in learning that Americans’ personal saving rate is higher than previously thought. Should we enter an economic downturn in the near future, households will have room to spend more and save less, ...

The Donald Trump administration is planning to move hundreds of federal jobs away from Washington. In principle, this idea could make sense — so long as it’s competently executed and done for the right reasons. In practice, the plan seems likely to fail both tests. As currently designed, the proposed relocations promise to yield meager, if any, savings to taxpayers. ...

I wrote recently about why Amazon.com Inc.’s commercial messages in product searches are a risky way to levy additional fees on the companies that sell through its digital mall. Apple Inc. is increasingly wading into similar waters. Type in “maps” in the search bar of Apple’s widely used iPhone app storefront, and you might see a result for Google Maps ...

The growing threat of a hard Brexit has prompted many investors to steer clear of British banks. For Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley, a rupture with the European Union could turn out to be a handy lifeline. Staley, who has focussed on reviving the UK lender’s investment bank, has set himself a profitability target for 2019 and 2020 ...