Opinion

  Would you lend taxpayer money to Volkswagen AG, the disgraced automaker that’s worth 35 percent less than it was a year ago? How about providing financial succor to Telecom Italia, which both Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings regard as a junk borrower unworthy of investment grade status? Those are just some of the unintended consequences of the ...

  Valérie Niquet SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS According to Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo at the 2016 edition of the Shangri La Dialogue, “Asia Pacific civilization blends in harmony, mutual accommodation is vibrant.” In spite of these reassuring words, the martial tone of the speech, the pursuit of Chinese land reclamations in the South China Sea, and the preemptive rejection of ...

  According to Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, Russia is pursuing a “divide and conquer” policy in Europe by trying to boost the eurosceptic populists. “It’s regularly discussed,” Zaoralek told Financial Times. “We have no doubt Russia is finding ways to finance this.” Others before him have made similar allegations but, like Zaoralek, they have been unable to produce proof ...

  The world’s central banks are increasingly employing a controversial method to stimulate economic growth: negative interest rates. I’m convinced that this can be a valuable tool, but its power depends a lot on how it’s used. First, some context. A bond that promises to pay $1,000 in a year’s time is said to have a negative interest rate if ...

  Yuki Tatsumi SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS On June 9, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigate sailed near Senkaku Island. Although the naval vessel stayed in the contiguous zone, and therefore did not enter Japan’s territorial waters, this is the first time that a PLAN vessel came this close to the Senkakus, which are also claimed by China ...

  WASHINGTON Sometime over the next several years, the next U.S. president could confront a genuinely dangerous threat from a faraway place — a North Korean missile that can hit U.S. territory with a nuclear warhead. Led by an impulsive and brutal young man, North Korea may pose the most direct nuclear risk for the United States. Kim Jong Un ...

  Calls are growing to preserve existing nuclear power plants through investing in new designs to replace the old ones when they retire. This development will help produce more clean energy tofight climate change. The renewed interest in nuclear energy led to developing the cutting-edge “fourth-generation” reactor designs that are safer. If left unattended, they would safely halt. But the ...

  The U.S. economy remains weak, with inflation expected to remain below the Federal Reserve’s target for years to come. When the central bank holds its policy-making meeting next week, it should take decisive action to end the malaise. Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, has suggested a good plan: Hold off on any further interest-rate ...

  The news out of Venezuela couldn’t be grimmer. Annual inflation is the highest in the world. Food is so scarce that desperate people are rifling through trash for scraps while others have taken to looting. But don’t tell that to the country’s diplomats. They’re on a roll. Last year, Venezuela took a rotating seat on the United Nations Security ...

  Americans find it hard to imagine that the two-party system could ever break down. “Democracy works, this country works when you have two parties that are serious and trying to solve problems,” President Barack Obama said recently. Yet U.S. democracy and the country itself would be better served if politicians started acting as if there were more parties — ...