I sometimes refer to the Covid-19 pandemic as “the great psychometric test.” We are all being placed under different kinds of strain, and we have the chance to react for better or worse. One set of tests has concerned masks. There is increasing evidence that masks stem the spread of the virus, yet the US is not embracing mask-wearing. It ...

As Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp unloads about 200 million shares of T-Mobile US Inc, more investors get a chance to own a top-performing stock that had been hogged by insiders. SoftBank’s fire sale isn’t a knock on T-Mobile, but rather a reluctant move by billionaire Masayoshi Son to shore up his own troubled conglomerate. Indeed, his loss will be someone ...

One stereotype about Germans is that they love to complain, typically with self-righteous bluster and hair-splitting inflexibility. Much less known is the addendum. Having complained, and realising that their position is untenable, Germans are also remarkably adept at changing the subject and moving on. You see this in domestic politics all the time. Last fall the Social Democrats, the junior ...