Opinion

  One aspect of the war in Ukraine demands much closer attention — the failure of the US and its rich-country friends to build strong partnerships with the developing world. Many governments in Africa, Latin America and Asia have distanced themselves from the allies’ response to Russia’s aggression. This is helping Moscow and does nothing to discourage other regimes with ...

Is detente still a dirty word? I hope not. We may soon need it. Back in the 1970s, that little French duosyllable was almost synonymous with “Kissinger.” Despite turning 99 last month, the former secretary of state has not lost his ability to infuriate people on both the right and the left — witness the reaction to his suggestion at ...

Consider, if you will, a scenario where Foxconn Technology Group enjoys margins three times fatter than Apple Inc. That may be hard to imagine because the developer of iPhones is one of the largest companies in the world, earning close to $100 billion annually, while the one that makes those devices brings in 5% of that. But this was once ...

The road to Hambantota may be paved with Chinese money, but its value is up for debate — now more than ever. Set among the soft, green rice paddies and coconut palms of Sri Lanka’s deep south, Hambantota is best known as the stronghold of the nation’s Rajapaksa clan, who have spent years using borrowed money to build monuments to ...

  The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England all preside over inflation rates that have surged to quadruple their 2% targets. One of their brethren is highly skeptical of their chances of success in calming price increases. It may turn out that they’ve been lucky rather than good in achieving price stability in recent ...

More than 100 days of war in Ukraine have not only unleashed multiple political, economic and environmental crises; Vladimir Putin’s invasion has also revived dangerous delusions in the West. A few months ago, acute divisions plagued the United States, the European Union and ties between them. Germany, Europe’s leading nation, had developed a mutually profitable relationship with Russia. Poland, a ...

A “festival of economics” sounds like a contradiction in terms. What next? A bacchanalia of boredom? A celebration of sophistry? Thomas Carlyle dubbed economics “the dismal science” for good reason. Yet Turin’s International Festival of Economics lived up to its billing. Giuseppe Laterza, the festival impresario, got the inspiration of the festival from two sources: the Hay-on-Wye book festival in ...

  In recent days, prominent venture capital funds have come out with survival tips for their portfolio companies. While asking startup founders to tighten their belt is sound advice, it’s worth wondering when venture capital titans might be urged by their investors to scale back their own pay, too. Their compensation has been rising fast. Last year, median cash pay ...

  Inflation in the euro area surged to 8.1% in the year to May, yet again higher than expected. Up to now, despite signs that inflation was getting entrenched, the European Central Bank (ECB) had chosen to stand pat. It had its reasons, but they’re no longer persuasive. The ECB’s task is difficult, to put it mildly — and only ...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi often speaks of “trusted” supply chains. At the G-20 last year, he said that global supply chains depend upon “trust, transparency, and timeframes”; he’s made a similar pitch for Japan, the United States and Australia to “trust” India as a trade partner. And he’s right: The only chance that countries such as India have to ...