Recent Posts

Diplomats strive for peace in Afghanistan, Yemen

The handmaiden of peace is exhaustion. We are seeing that lesson in Afghanistan and Yemen. Fragile peace agreements are emerging in both conflicts, thanks to skillful diplomats. There are a hundred reasons why each negotiation may fail. But a process has started: Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy, said, “We have a draft of the [peace] framework that has to ...

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Fed gives markets what they want

Central bank watchers will readily agree that the policy meeting this week marked the formal end of the first attempt by Chair Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve to lead markets rather than succumb to their will. What they are less likely to agree on are the major reasons for the shift, and it is the answer to this latter question that ...

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Discipline in slowdown is Samsung’s silver lining

Samsung Electronics company’s fourth-quarter earnings tell a tale of falling demand for technology products and components. Revenue dropped 10 percent – the most in almost four years – with operating profit down 29 percent, the worst decline since 2016. Chips were the major reason for the weakness, the South Korean company told investors. Fourth quarter earnings of the company were ...

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