Brazil, it is often and not quite fairly said, is the country of the future and always will be. As the Olympics focuses global attention on the country, it’s worth exploring the various ways in which this maxim is — and may not be — true. The puzzle with Brazil is neither its successes nor its failures, but rather …

  Macy’s incoming CEO is starting off strong. He’ll need to get stronger. The department store said it would close 100 stores, or 14 percent of the 728 stores it currently operates. (Not included in the closings are the 100 or so Bloomingdales and Blue Mercury stores it also owns.) This announcement marks a sizable acceleration in store closings — …

  As the world reels under economic unpredictability and the market volatility grows, wisdom lies in tapping the benefits of Islamic economy. The Islamic bonds (sukuks) issued by UAE banks are being ranked as one of the world’s best-performing instruments. We will see rapid expansion of Islamic finance as more and more customers are added to the already huge and …