The Trump administration is looking to ease financial-strength requirements for big banks, on the grounds that they’ve already done enough to avert another crisis. But how much safer have they really become? In recent posts, I’ve offered some less-than-encouraging evidence. Levels of loss-absorbing equity, although higher than before the crisis, still fall far short of what’s needed. And despite the ...

In a sharp and welcome rebuke to President Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy, a Senate committee voted last week in favor of more diplomacy. Support was unanimous. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $51.2 billion for the State Department, the US Agency for International Development and other overseas assistance — more than a third greater than the $37.6 billion the ...

Almost a year on, India’s ban on large-denomination bills has been deemed a “total failure.” That’s not quite fair. True, the primary goal of flushing out tax cheats has been a flop. But a secondary goal — “to move toward the cashless society,” as India’s finance minister put it — still has real promise. The rest of the world, in ...