Opinion

Americans have drastically cut back their use of Facebook, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Yet the company’s reported results have held steady. Something is not right. The survey, conducted in late May and early June, shows that 42 percent of American adult users of Facebook took a break of several weeks or more from checking Facebook over ...

Anyone who expects China to concede defeat in its trade war with the US should read about Biobase Group. The Chinese manufacturer of laboratory equipment once struggled to win orders even at home in an industry dominated by foreign products. But the company’s prospects have brightened as the trade war prompts customers to turn to domestic alternatives. “The local market ...

Americans like to celebrate the wealthy. The Chinese, Crazy Rich Asians aside, tend to be a lot less indulgent. That goes some way to explaining Jack Ma’s plans to retire as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s co-founder and the almost daily unwinding of China’s once high-flying (debt-fueled) private conglomerates, including HNA Group Co. and Dalian Wanda Group Co. Ma said Monday ...

America’s female workers deserve more appreciation: They’re playing a crucial role in helping the US economy grow without stoking unwanted inflation. By many measures, the US is at or near full employment, the point at which demand for workers should push up wages and prices. The unemployment rate is at an extremely low 3.9 percent, and the number of available ...

The Indian rupee has been sliding against the US dollar in recent days as emerging markets come under pressure. That’s made the currency one of Asia’s worst performers, losing 12 percent this year. The rupee’s latest moves have sparked a debate in India. The Reserve Bank’s stated policy is to reduce volatility, rather than target a specific level for the ...

The back-to-school air brought a reality check to the Brexit negotiations. The good news is that the ticking clock has forced all sides to take a hard look at the dangers of an abrupt split between the UK and the European Union (EU). Most have concluded that separating on unsettled terms would create chaos for businesses and consumers and leave ...

You might think a celebrity CEO smoking weed on a live show just after a class-action lawsuit was filed against his firm is the sort of thing a financial columnist dreams about. And you’d be right. But it also presents something of a conundrum: What can sensibly be written about Elon Musk at this point that doesn’t come off as ...

Right-wing groups have been sounding the alarm about proposed land reforms in South Africa, where the ruling African National Congress party is preparing to amend the country’s constitution to make it easier for the government to redistribute farmland without compensation. On August 22, President Donald Trump caused a stir with a tweet on the subject: The tweet, possibly intended to ...

This is indeed ‘Crazytown,’ as a quote from Bob Woodward’s new book describes it, and we are watching a ‘nervous breakdown.’ The problem is that it afflicts the country as a whole, and not just our narcissistic chief executive. President Trump has drawn America with him into ‘the devil’s workshop,’ as Woodward quotes former White House chief of staff Reince ...

Talk about an unexpected US jobs day for bond traders. Some strategists were priming their audience for disappointment, noting that August jobs data has missed forecasts almost every year over the past two decades. That didn’t happen this time around: Nonfarm payrolls rose 201,000 last month, beating the 190,000 median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and crushing the even ...