Opinion

Traders in India are so convinced that slowing inflation will lead to a rate cut that the central bank’s increasing intervention in the bond market isn’t bothering them. Benchmark 10-year yields, which fell to a two-week low on Wednesday, will probably continue their decline after data showed consumer-price gains slowed to a record low, according to Kotak Mahindra Asset Management ...

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s prepared testimony for her semi-annual report to Congress made clear that central bankers are struggling to understand the recent downward trend in inflation. Still, it is important to remember that the path of monetary policy depends not just on inflation, but also on unemployment. Yellen knows this, and it would be a mistake to interpret ...

The conviction of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on corruption charges shows how far justice has come in Brazil. Yet Brazil’s next and stiffer test is in ensuring that allegations about current President Michel Temer receive a full and transparent investigation, and that the execution of justice is not reduced to back-room politics. Brazil’s future — the future ...

The New York Times ran an article over the weekend about efforts by utility companies to fight the spread of rooftop-solar power: Rooftop solar panel growth has come to a shuddering stop this year, with a projected decline in new installations of 2 percent. Since 2013, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Maine and Indiana have decided to phase out programs that spurred ...

It’s easy to poke fun at Britain’s government dysfunction. But there’s at least one policy area where it’s having a sophisticated debate with global implications: how to regulate ‘gig economy’ companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Deliveroo so they don’t exploit workers or skimp on taxes. Working out new rules for companies that use smartphones to connect buyers and ...

I am giving you permission: You can safely ignore Amazon’s Prime Day, the annual fake shopping holiday Jeff Bezos invented two years ago. True to form, Amazon released a crush of mostly useless statistics about the “success” of its invented holiday. Prime Day 2017 was the “biggest global shopping event in Amazon history”. Prime Day couldn’t even be contained by ...

Don’t worry, the robots won’t destroy all our jobs. History suggests just the opposite — that new technologies inspire new jobs. So concludes a study from leading labor economists. It’s a useful antidote to widespread fears that robots and ‘artificial intelligence’ will displace millions of workers and lead to permanently high joblessness. No doubt, the anxiety is real. Despite a ...

If at first you don’t succeed, slash prices and try, try again. That seems to be the strategy at Facebook Inc., which said it would temporarily cut $200 from the $600 price of its Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles plus a related accessory. It’s the second time this year that Facebook has discounted Oculus gear. (The cost doesn’t account for ...

Acid attacks are catching on in Britain. The numbers may still be small relative to other violent crimes, but they’re sharply on the rise. These assaults are especially shocking — and they’re attracting feverish attention, which could inspire copycats. The government needs to act. The UK now has one of the highest rates of recorded acid attacks in the world, ...

Will it be R.I.P. for China’s VPNs? The Chinese government had ordered telecommunications providers to block access to individual virtual private networks by February 1. VPNs are popular and widely utilized services that allow internet users to bypass web restrictions. In effect, the new rules would block the most popular means for Chinese netizens to see beyond the so-called Great ...