Opinion

I always laugh when I see stories asking how many jobs the president has created. This language is common in the news media, as well as in the boasts of certain presidents. To be fair, most people understand the phrase as a shorthand for how much employment growth there was during a president’s time on the job. But many people ...

The appointment of Italy’s new central bank governor has turned into a depressing power struggle. But for all the elements that make this a uniquely Italian affair, it also raises broader questions about how a country should balance independence and accountability in the event of a possible central bank failure. Matteo Renzi, the former prime minister and leader of the ...

Nobody was surprised that the European Union’s leaders refused to move the Brexit talks forward at last week’s summit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President Donald Tusk talked of progress and suggested there’d be more at the next gathering in December, but this speck of encouragement shouldn’t obscure the bigger picture. The process is moving too slowly, and ...

It’s that time of year again when Congress debates the federal budget. For most Americans, it’s a turnoff. The dollar amounts are monstrous — trillions, not billions. The vocabulary of government finances (budget-speak) is baffling. Little wonder people tune out. For the weary and confused, I offer a brief budget primer below. Here’s what I think is important and why. ...

Singapore’s malls are one click away from irrelevance, though the investment trusts that own them are carrying on as if nothing has changed. The first hint of trouble showed up in January when department store John Little shut down after a 174-year run. Then, in July, Amazon.com Inc. introduced its two-hour Prime Now delivery service, choosing the city-state of 5.6 ...

If Kenya goes ahead with its presidential vote this week, it will be making a historic mistake — one that threatens unrest and undermines a landmark court decision affirming the importance of transparent, free and fair elections. Thursday’s scheduled vote is a redo of one held on August 8, which Kenya’s Supreme Court annulled on September 1. In making its ...

From 2008 to 2014, according to the US Department of Justice, background checks prevented 556,496 gun purchases. In the last six months, about that many people have been removed from the national database and are newly eligible to buy a gun. The FBI’s national instant criminal background check system, which screens such transactions, is not quite perfect: It has an ...

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, has guided his country’s monetary policy for most of the 21st century. He was appointed in 2002, shortly after China joined the World Trade Organization, and helped steer its economy through the global financial crisis. In the process, he gained widespread respect at home and a reputation for prudent liberalism abroad. ...

The past decade has been a testing time for the Russian tycoon’s love affair with London. The worst relations with the West since the Cold War, economic sanctions on Russia’s biggest companies and an oil-price rout that sank the rouble to record depths forced Russian companies and investors to migrate elsewhere. An index of London-listed Russian stocks has fallen 42 ...

While consumers remember the iPhone for its cool design, closed-wall operating system and hefty price tag, industry insiders in Asia turn to the US giant as an example of incredible manufacturing discipline. First under Tim Cook, and now Jeff Williams, the current chief operating officer, Apple has shone as a beacon of how to discover and develop unique materials, coerce ...