Switzerland is one of the richest places on the planet but it isn’t all sunshine and alpine flowers when you’re encircled by the world’s biggest trading bloc: the European Union. While the Swiss are pretty nimble in managing this unfortunate state of affairs, there are limits to what they can do. Take currency. The Swiss National Bank is facing the ...

In the past couple of months, the flaws in the Federal Reserve’s management of the economy have become hard to ignore. The central bank’s current way of doing things is increasingly self-defeating. To its credit, the Fed seems to realise this and is conducting a broad review of its goals and methods. It would be a pity if this process ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc has been paying hundreds of outside contractors to transcribe clips of audio from users of its services, according to people with knowledge of the work. The work has rattled the contract employees, who are not told where the audio was recorded or how it was obtained — only to transcribe it, said the people, who requested anonymity ...