Opinion

  The Federal Reserve might be doing the right thing for the US economy by moving to bring interest rates back up to normal. But for foreign companies and governments that have borrowed trillions of US dollars, the adjustment could be painful. Thanks in large part to a prolonged period of extremely low US interest rates, borrowers around the world ...

  North Korea launched yet another missile. The missile test, though it turned out to be damp-squib, is nevertheless evidence of Pyongyang’s continued determination to develop intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It seems there is nothing which can hold it back from pursuing its nuclear ambitions. North Korea is pushing hard to upgrade its weapons systems to cope with the so ...

  The legal cases against Yogi Adityanath, the new chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous and politically significant state, include attempted murder and criminal intimidation. This freshly anointed leader of 200 million Indians, nearly 20% of whom are Muslim, wishes to install Hindu idols in every mosque in India, and has said that “if one Hindu is killed ...

  Psst… want a frothy sale price? Sell a Hong Kong insurance asset, but do it quick, before Chinese regulators cotton on to mainland firms paying over the odds for the best yuan hedge around. Take Hong Kong Life Insurance Ltd., a small firm that an investment company associated with China UCF Group Co., the conglomerate led by businessman Zhang ...

  Research on the so-called productivity paradox — declining productivity despite the ongoing technological revolution — abounds in explanations ranging from statistical error to theories predicting that a productivity leap is just around the corner. One possibility is conspicuously missing: Any positive effect digital innovation is having on productivity is offset by how counterproductively distracting and energy-draining its fruits have ...

  Perhaps no other piece of economics jargon has caused as much confusion as the term “strong dollar.” The phrase suggests patriotic strength, of the USA riding roughshod over its economic rivals. In reality, dollar strength just means purchasing power — a stronger dollar lets US residents and businesses buy more things from overseas, while a weaker dollar helps them ...

  Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao has negotiated a partial retreat from a tough situation in India on reasonable terms. Given a bloody price war brought on by a new rival, the deal to join forces with Idea Cellular Ltd is smart even though Colao has ceded control without getting a premium. Vodafone Group Plc and Idea said on Monday that ...

  Presumably at the insistence of the U.S. administration, the latest statement from the Group of 20 big economies conspicuously dropped the standard promise to “avoid all forms of protectionism.” It’s worth pausing to understand why that promise was ever worth making, and honoring. The reason is surely not that governments always keep their word. For years they’ve been backsliding ...

  At last, the much heralded date for UK to file divorce papers to leave European Union has been announced. British Prime Minister Theresa May will invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal process of leaving the EU, on March 29. It will start the clock on two years period, during which to complete the most important negotiation ...

  The prospect of a halt to the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program at the end of the year removes a powerful bulwark against rising government borrowing costs. Together with the rise of anti-euro parties in Europe, it has also spooked investors. Now, perhaps it’s time to resuscitate the old idea of centralizing bond issuance by all euro members. Spanish ...