Opinion

  UK formally serves notice that it’s quitting the European Union. Beyond a doubt, this decision was a grave mistake — but it’s done, and now Britain and its European partners need to arrange the friendliest possible divorce. The EU’s initial posture has been anything but friendly, which is understandable. Britain is the defaulting party and shouldn’t expect gratitude. Europe’s ...

  Middle East is a seething cauldron. Although US President Donald Trump called the fight against IS his top priority and vowed to wipe IS from the face of earth, the young administration is wary of getting mired in the region. Trump criticized past presidents for getting deep in Iraq and other conflicts. Trump does not want to go solo ...

  Taxi companies that compete with Uber and media companies that are up against Facebook know it: In a rivalry between regulated and unregulated firms, the latter have an unfair advantage. It also applies to banks, which spent the past ten years losing market share to companies that regulators ignored. In a fresh working paper, Greg Buchak and Gregor Matvos ...

  Few industries have flourished in modern Britain like carmaking and aviation. Car production rose to a 17-year high last year and thanks to budget carriers such as EasyJet Plc, Brits can fly across the continent for a pittance. Today those achievements stand on shakier foundations, as Britain begins two years of negotiations over withdrawing from the EU. Theresa May’s ...

  Humans are gradually coming to recognize the vast influence that artificial intelligence will have on society. What we need to think about more, though, is how to hold it accountable to the people whose lives it will change. Google tells us what to believe. Facebook tells us what’s news. Countless other algorithms are standing in for human control and ...

  As UK Prime Minister Theresa May starts the clock on Britain’s departure from the European Union, there’s no real question that the divorce is going to hurt both parties — and the UK, to be sure, much more than the EU. But this isn’t to say there’s no upside. The right kind of deal will recognize these opportunities and ...

  China’s banks are turning the corner — or are they? A surprise increase in full-year profit at Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. and better-than-estimated 2016 earnings at Bank of Communications Co., or Bocom, are reinforcing the view that lenders in the People’s Republic are getting a grip on their multiyear bad-loan problem. And with short-term interest rates starting to ...

  New protests in Russia highlight a fundamental flaw in the regime of President Vladimir Putin: His grip on power relies far too much on the very corruption that is increasingly trying Russians’ patience. If he doesn’t find a way to address their grievances, it won’t end well for him or the country. Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to ...

  The United Kingdom on Wednesday started the clock on two years of negotiations to withdraw from the European Union. Britain’s top envoy to European Union Tim Barrow hand-delivered a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, triggering final split. Tusk has said that he would respond with a draft negotiating guidelines within 48 hours. Leaders of remaining 27 nations ...

  Discussions about manufacturing tend to get very contentious. Many economists and commentators believe that there’s nothing inherently special about making things and that efforts to restore US manufacturing to its former glory reek of industrial policy, protectionism, mercantilism and antiquated thinking. But in their eagerness to guard against the return of these ideas, manufacturing’s detractors often overstate their case. ...