Opinion

I repeat myself. For years, I have advocated a wall along our Southern border, which would (I believe) discourage illegal immigration without stopping it altogether. But let’s face it: Whatever the virtues or vices of a wall, it has largely become a political symbol. President Trump and Republicans love it; Democrats and immigration groups despise it. It’s time to break ...

Now this is embarrassing. Shares in Samsung Electronics Co. dropped almost 6 percent in two days this week after operating income for the three months ended December missed analyst estimates. But it wasn’t South Korea Inc.’s crown jewel capturing most investors’ attention. That accolade went to SillaJen Inc., a little-known biotech firm with $5 million in sales. Its turnover was ...

Stock markets started the year on a strong note, and everyone seems to be asking the same question: How much more can high-risk assets appreciate? The dollar may provide the answer. The US currency’s weakness throughout 2017 provided much support for the domestic economy, arguably more than even the anticipation of tax cuts that boosted equities. It has also been ...

Suppose you have two loans. The first is a student loan of $40,000 with an interest rate of 6 percent, and the second is a credit-card balance of $12,000 with an interest rate of 11 percent. You find that at the end of each month, you have about $1,000 left over, and you want to use it to pay down ...

Ever since it took over from national authorities as the euro zone’s supervisor-in-chief, the European Central Bank (ECB) has prided itself on taking a tough stance when it comes to bad loans. But has the ECB neglected other risks in the financial sector? This is the thesis of a curious paper published by the Bank of Italy at the end of ...

Americans are boringly predictable when it comes to smartphone shopping. Roughly three-quarters of Americans with smartphones own either a Samsung or Apple device. Every other mobile phone maker is competing for scraps. Perhaps the company with the best shot at shaking things up, China’s Huawei Technologies Co., has suffered a big blow to its ambitions to dislodge the Coke and ...

US equities responded to the Trump presidency with euphoria. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25 percent in 2017, becoming one of the best-performing global asset classes. It was a different story with US Treasuries: The yield on 10-year notes fell slightly from 2.44 percent at the end of 2016 to close 2017 at 2.41 percent. And the spread in ...

As 2018 gets underway, China seems to be on top again. The yuan has strengthened 6.8 percent against the dollar over the past 12 months and foreign-exchange reserves are growing. Not so fast. Remember November 2015, when the International Monetary Fund — with some fanfare — agreed to add the yuan to its prestigious special drawing rights currency basket. Talk ...

Five events from the previous year hold clues to what lies ahead for energy, technology and finance. Electric buses just keep on going: The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has amassed a total of 16,359 electric buses, making its fleet bigger than the six largest North American combustion-bus fleets. Cities keep a close eye on their vehicle fleets: The Lion ...

Can a relatively low-tax country run a high-quality, taxpayer-funded health service that’s free to all? Britain’s National Health Service suggests the answer is no. The NHS is good at some things but bad, bordering on disastrous, at others. Its great virtue is truly universal coverage, no questions asked — and by international standards, the system is also cheap to run. ...