Opinion

Last fall, as cryptocurrencies seemed on the brink of a linkage with the traditional financial system, there were predictions of a price explosion along with institutional, regulatory and mainstream acceptance of the currencies. Others predicted disaster or a collapse to zero value. In the end, despite some dramatic price moves, not much happened. Still, liquid crypto derivative trading gives us ...

The question of whether to prioritize jobs or economic efficiency is always difficult. Nowhere is this more of a dilemma than in the construction industry. In a world of rapid technological disruption, construction is a rock of solidity to which many blue-collar workers can cling. The industry still employs about 7 million workers in the US. The job doesn’t change ...

Riots, drought, social instability: Emerging markets are never easy. Now investors face a potentially bigger test—they must decide whether President Xi Jinping’s determination to remain in power in China is a risk-on or risk-off moment for the whole asset class. The Communist Party is set to repeal presidential term limits this month in a step that would allow the 64-year-old ...

Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s choice of a new central bank governor is a clear signal that the campaign for next year’s election has begun in earnest. It’s hard to find another way to explain the promotion of Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Perry Warjiyo to the top job. With campaigning for municipal elections in June under way and a tough presidential ...

Something was missing on a trip to East Asia a few weeks ago. And on separate visits to Mideast and India toward the end of last year. Took me a while to figure what it was. You know that feeling where you get that you left something behind, but you just can’t quite remember what? Ah, yes! Brexit! Britain’s decision ...

“There is one and only one social responsibility of business — to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” So wrote Milton Friedman, the great economist and Nobel laureate. Someone should tell today’s corporate leaders, who are responding to the age of Trump in part by spending energy on activities other than directly increasing profits. ...

For most of the past half century, the yen has either been severely undervalued or severely overvalued against the dollar, resulting in a highly destructive boom-bust supercycle in Japan’s economy. But now, the currency is finally showing signs of stabilizing at somewhere close to fair value as defined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s measure of purchasing power ...

Detroit’s auto giants are on the cusp of what looks like a major victory. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is considering making drastic cuts to fuel-efficiency targets for future vehicles that were set under President Barack Obama in 2012. US automakers would like easier mileage standards because improvements from here will raise the cost of vehicles and require selling ...

When asked why his opinions frequently changed, economist John Maynard Keynes is said to have responded with some variation of “When the facts change, I change my mind.” Well, it’s time the Federal Reserve changed its thinking on monetary policy. Economies are becoming increasingly driven by real and financial asset prices, meaning financial stability can no longer be relegated to ...

Budget airlines are all about cheap flights — AirAsia Bhd. really brings new meaning to the term. Its non-fuel costs are the lowest in the entire industry. At 1.73 US cents per available seat kilometer, they’re less than half of Ryanair Holdings Plc’s 3.59 cents and about one-sixth of the amount paid by the big three US carriers, according to ...