The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) will shape the world’s future. It has already dawned on us. The UAE is joining the World Economic Forum (WEF) to lead from the front as it ushers in the 4IR and gives fillip to technological advancements. While setting up the world’s first permanent policy council that will study and implement the plans of …

  Russian President Vladimir Putin has been rather consistent lately in making it clear that senior officials were not immune from corruption charges. Yet Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev’s arrest in the wee hours of Tuesday still stands out. It raises questions about the future of Putin’s highly professional, technocratic economic team as well as one of the president’s closest associates, …

  Pity the poor pension fund manager. Toward the end of October, there was finally a chance to add some yield to a European fixed-income portfolio by lending money to Austria for 70 years at a yield of 1.53 percent. The sale raised 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion); it could have fetched more than six times as much, given the …