Opinion

  Simply holding still shows backbone when other Polish institutions are under siege. By sticking with its longest policy pause in almost two decades, the National Bank of Poland is winning over the biggest doubters of the country’s course after the Law & Justice party’s sweep into power last year. S&P Global Ratings, which in January handed the sovereign its ...

Congress has voted to change the way new prescription drugs are approved, in a way that could endanger patients. The deal now under consideration contains a sweetener for lawmakers who might be wary of such a change (Democrats, that is): substantially increased funding for medical research. It’s very effective politics, but not necessarily good policy. The bill in question would ...

  British parliamentarians voted 448 to 75 to endorse Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to trigger Brexit talks by the end of March. The MPs also secured the right to scrutinize her negotiating plan first. The debate in the House of Commons continued for six hours before the voting. The vote is not legally binding. But it is politically significant ...

  Those who support aggressive action to reduce greenhouse gases fear that the Donald Trump administration will undo all or most of President Barack Obama’s climate change initiatives. But those fears are probably unwarranted. A good guess, based on a close look at the regulations that matter most, is that the Obama administration’s work on climate is more secure than ...

  Economists and investors wondering how much longer they will have to wait before fallout from June’s Brexit vote appears in the data may get their answer soon. While much has been made of the resilience of the UK economy, with GDP data and PMI readings beating expectations while unemployment continues to fall, the tide may be turning on the ...

  With free trade under fire from the incoming administration and under question from many other quarters, it is U.S. trade relations with China and Mexico that have been getting the most attention and criticism. That makes sense, given that those are two of this country’s three biggest trading partners — and the third is Canada, which is hard to ...

  The pressure for social networks to censor the content that appears on them just won’t cease, and the networks are bending. Censorship, however, is not what users want. Nor is it technically possible, even if the platforms won’t admit it. The European Union is pushing Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to comply with member states’ hate speech laws. ...

  Trust is extremely valuable for markets and the economy. In its absence, though, technology might prove to be the next best thing. Doing business would be really easy if people could all trust each other. In rural parts of Japan, for example, it’s common to see unattended produce stands where farmers leave fruits and vegetables for sale. Customers pay ...

  This week, the European Union’s finance ministers granted some new debt relief to Greece. The new “short-term” measures are better than nothing — but they’re less than a convincing solution to a problem that has dragged on far too long. The deal, sketched out and agreed to in principle earlier this year, should help the Greek government convince voters ...

  Syrian army continues to make gains in Aleppo. On Wednesday regime forces took control of the Aleppo’s Old City as rebels retreated. Assad forces have retaken more than three-quarters of opposition territory since the offensive launched in November. More than 80,000 people have fled their homes in eastern neighbourhoods. After three weeks of fighting that has witnessed unprecedented aggression, ...