Four decades ago, two University of Rochester professors came up with a definitive theory for that “awesome social invention” known as a publicly held company. The firm, they said, was but a series of contractual agreements between the owners and their agents—the managers. And there the matter rested. Until a 20-F filing at the US Securities Exchange Commission by Bangalore-based …

The headlines liken it to a “raid” or a “power grab.” But the European Union’s threat to repatriate euro clearing away from London is starting to look like a headache nobody actually wants to see happen. Which, all told, is probably a good thing. EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis recently unveiled the legal framework of how the bloc plans to supervise …

Usually when a president agrees to send more troops to a war zone, it’s part of a broader strategy. George W. Bush approved the surge of forces to Iraq as part of a population-centric counterinsurgency war plan. Barack Obama did the same in his first year when it came to Afghanistan, though he eventually regretted the decision, and spent most …