Opinion

  The Federal Reserve is in a deep hole of its own making as its top policy committee meets to announce the start of a long-anticipated cycle to raise interest rates. Inflation is at a 40-year high and still accelerating, the Fed’s inflation-fighting credibility is damaged, and it has lost control of the monetary policy narrative. Add to that the ...

The great Nato enlargement debate never ends. In the 1990s, US officials and academics argued about whether pushing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) into Eastern Europe was likely to sustain the post-Cold War peace or prematurely end it. More recently, critics have charged that Russia’s war in Ukraine is a natural response to the aggressive expansion of America’s most ...

We are now in Covid limbo. Cases are down and still falling, yet scientists aren’t willing to declare the pandemic over — or, conversely, to predict when the next wave might come. But perhaps it’s a good thing that public health officials are displaying a little less confidence. Researchers don’t really know why pandemic waves rise or fall, so it ...

  Insulin has been making life better for people with diabetes since it first saved the life of a Canadian teenager in 1922. As the ensuing century passed, however, the drug also became a poster child for the dysfunctionality of America’s drug-pricing system. More than 10 million Americans rely on insulin to control their blood sugar, and the out-of-pocket cost ...

  Environmental, social and governance investors believe they can lower the risk of a portfolio and maybe even boost its return by investing in companies with robust ESG policies. The idea is that companies that take ESG seriously are better stewards of the environment, are less likely to be in the path of climate change, take better care of workers, ...

Department stores have been under some pressure to split off their e-commerce operations. It’s an idea that should be left on the shelf. Macy’s Inc has felt the push from activist investor Jana Partners LLC, but says it won’t spin off its e-commerce business. A demerger at Kohl’s Corp is off the agenda because the company is more focused on ...

Bank stocks have tumbled more than most since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine — and not just in Europe. Shares in big US banks have also fallen about twice as much as the S&P 500 in percentage terms in the past month. Investors aren’t just worried about loans into Russia and Ukraine: Direct exposures look manageable for even the handful ...

  An immensely brave Ukrainian army, aided by civilians equipped with Molotov cocktails and small arms, is vastly outmatched by Russian armed forces. Nato countries are trying to help by providing more weapons: rifles and machine guns from the Czechs, missile-launchers from the Dutch, antitank missiles from the Estonians, munitions and more antitank weapons from the United States. Even Germany, ...

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has cemented its grip on national politics with its excellent showing in state elections, particularly in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. The BJP’s stranglehold on power in New Delhi is based on its strength in the north and west of India. UP, as it is called, is the biggest prize ...

Russians are facing a psychological conundrum all human beings confront every day, but at a far more consequential level. It is this: How much will they choose to know, or deliberately not know? Their answer may decide the course of history. If the war of aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine is the world’s most urgent problem, the ...