Opinion

Pakistan is flirting with a textbook emerging-market crisis. An unsustainable investment boom has ended. The central bank has raised interest rates to squeeze a current account gap. Growth has collapsed to a nine-year low; youth unemployment is in double digits; and inflation is getting there. Government revenues are stalling. Getting Islamabad out of its jam is once again the job ...

Haruhiko Kuroda won’t have it. The widespread notion that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is out of ammunition is nonsense, according to its governor, who says he still has the capacity to do grand things. Just look at his counterpart at the European Central Bank (ECB). “Like Mario Draghi, I think we can do these things if necessary,” Kuroda said ...

It wouldn’t take much for Apple Inc. to have US-sold iPhones made outside China. Foxconn Technology Group, the primary assembler of the devices, said that it has enough capacity to make all iPhones bound for the US outside of China if necessary. Apple hasn’t given the Taiwanese company such instructions, a senior executive of Foxconn’s listed flagship Hon Hai Precision ...

If you want a peek at the future, try looking at Japan. It’s a sobering exercise. Here’s how economist Timothy Taylor, managing editor of Journal of Economic Perspectives, describes country’s outlook: “[Japan] is facing a situation of a declining population and workforce, and the share of the population that is elderly is on the rise. [This is] driving up government ...

In China, debt takes many shapes – on the books, off the books, or buried deep within the financial system. Now, debt can even be considered equity. In a bid to boost the economy, China announced it would allow local governments to borrow more to fund infrastructure investment. As part of this push, it will let municipalities use the proceeds ...

At first glance, it looks like dealmaking is booming in the US and dead in Europe. Contrast United Technologies Corp.’s blockbuster tie-up with fellow defense contractor Raytheon Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s decision to pull out of talks with Renault SA. The reality is more that transactions are getting harder everywhere as protectionism mixes with trustbusters and awkward shareholders. ...

Is the Renault-Nissan Alliance stronger than the man who led it for two decades? The omens don’t look good. The downfall of Carlos Ghosn over allegations of financial misconduct has opened up a Pandora’s Box of Franco-Japanese political hostility, grudges and pressure tactics – supposedly all in the name of “strengthening” the 20-year alliance. For all Ghosn’s flaws and delusions ...

India’s government has long claimed that the country is one of the fastest-growing large economies in the world. That boast was a crucial part of the ruling party’s message in India’s recent election campaign — that, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the economy was in safe hands. Competence and sincerity as an economic manager is central to the image Modi ...

It was surprising timing for Italy to announce a 20-year syndicated bond just as Spain was bringing a 6 billion euro ($6.8 billion) 10-year issue on the same day. This is doubly true when you consider that both Germany and Portugal have regular 10-year auctions as well on June 12– more so when Italy itself has a scheduled sale of ...

President Trump spoke the right words in commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day, but did he mean them? So far, his presidency has been about defying the postwar order that was based on shared values and global partnership, rather than cementing its legacy. Trump spoke at what he rightly described as “freedom’s altar,” the burial site for nearly 10,000 Americans ...