Three times in the modern era, Japan has reacted to profound international shifts with a sweeping remake of its foreign policy — in ways that altered global history. The nation is now undergoing a leadership transition, as the job of prime minister passes from Yoshihide Suga to Fumio Kishida. This may seem like “more of the same,” as both men ...

Living with Covid-19 means embracing interest-rate increases. The more of the latter, the better. That’s the view from New Zealand, whose central bank proceeded on Wednesday with a widely anticipated hike in its benchmark rate to 0.5%, the first nudge higher in seven years. The Reserve Bank made it clear the move is unlikely to be the last. Inflation is ...

Bitcoin is a virtual currency with a very physical footprint in the form of the big, power-hungry facilities that have sprouted up to mine it. The size of this footprint and its impact on the environment have become a hotly contested issue: The network’s power consumption this year will likely be a whopping 91 terawatt-hours, roughly equivalent to Pakistan’s, according ...