Opinion

As US President Donald Trump imposes punitive tariffs on China, the European Union could be next in line. The EU has been performing a complex balancing act to keep Trump from pouncing. So far it has succeeded – but that may become increasingly difficult. The US leader is due to decide later this month whether to impose levies on car ...

For all the promise that digitisation offers, sometimes it’s worth reminding ourselves that it requires the right conditions. Telefonica SA is illustrating why. The former Spanish national carrier is midway through a digital transformation program, and has succeeded in realising almost two thirds of the 1 billion euros in savings it’s targeting by the end of next year. That’s clearly ...

For decades, business schools have taught Johnson & Johnson’s handling of its 1982 Tylenol scandal as a textbook example of good crisis management. In the future, we can expect Boeing Co.’s treatment of its two 737 Max crashes to join the syllabus — as an example of what not to do. Engineers at the planemaker discovered problems with the aircraft’s ...

The popular appeal of a single-payer system to solve the nation’s health care problems is no secret. Everyone would have insurance, recognising — as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., continually tells us — that health care is “a right, not a privilege.” Our medical expenses would be paid by some central agency, eliminating the wasteful overhead of today’s insurance companies that ...

If you thought the fight between Italy and the European Commission was over, think again. Brussels produced its latest batch of forecasts for EU countries. For Rome, they paint an ugly picture. Italy is expected to grow by a meager 0.1% this year, the slowest pace in the bloc. Meanwhile, its budget deficit is forecast to reach 2.5% of gross ...

General Electric Co.’s attempts at a revival are starting to bear fruit – not necessarily in its cash flow, but in its culture and in the hearts and minds of shareholders who’ve had to slog with the industrial giant through some of the worst years in its history. They are ready to believe again. GE hosted its annual meeting in ...

For Reliance Industries Ltd., buying Hamelys is a dream come true. The group hasn’t said much about its plans for the British toy store. Nor has Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who controls Reliance. Whatever global aspirations they may have, achieving them won’t be straightforward. For buyers of British trophy retail assets, hopes of catapulting them to international domination don’t ...

Whatever one thinks of Donald Trump’s trade negotiating strategy — which has largely relied on tariffs that have hurt US companies and consumers most of all, many of them from parts of the country that are both economically fragile and that supported Trump in the last election — he’s right about one thing. A global trading system meant to benefit ...

The plunge in Hong Kong stocks triggered by the renewed US-China trade conflict was the latest jolt for a market that’s veered wildly between bear and bull territory in the past two years. Investors seeking a haven from the volatility have few places to turn: one may be stocks tied to the Greater Bay Area. China’s plan to knit together ...

It’s impossible to root for Facebook Inc. It’s like rooting for the New England Patriots. (Sorry, Pats fans.) Besides partisans and kooks, who could side with an organization that is successful beyond belief, skirts the rules and is led by an all-powerful boss facing serious legal questions? And unlike the sports team, Facebook wields enormous influence over how the world ...