Two Junes ago, when the Supreme Court upheld, 6-3, a challenged provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, vented: “Congress wrote key parts of the Act behind closed doors. Congress passed much of the Act using a complicated budgetary procedure known as ‘reconciliation,’ which limited opportunities for debate and amendment, and bypassed …

Financial markets are frothier than a millennial’s 3-D latte. Investors are scrambling to throw money at Argentina, Vice Media and George Clooney’s tequila. Only the crypto-currency craze seems to give us comfort there are worse bubbles out there. The latest warning against digital currencies comes from Aberdeen Asset Management’s top venture capitalist, Peter Denious. He blames a feeding frenzy of …

The European Commission’s decision to let Italy spend up to 17 billion euros ($19 billion) to clean up the mess left by two failed banks is bad news — and not just for Italy’s taxpayers. It’s also a setback for the euro zone’s putative banking union, and for the European Union’s efforts to supervise anti-competitive state aid. Over the weekend, …

Malware has yet again disrupted businesses around the world, just weeks after hackers used leaked National Security Administration tools in a global cyberattack called WannaCry. The ultimate target in both cases may be people’s sensitive information — a troubling reality that should finally motivate organizations to get serious about security. The recent attack was more sophisticated than WannaCry, which took …

Imagine that a European leader invaded England and deposed the legitimate head of state, leaving a Dutchman in charge of the country. If you didn’t know any better, you might think this is an overwrought caricature of what the European Union was supposed to bring to British affairs, at least pre-Brexit; that story sounds far worse than the regulations, taxes …

It seems that barely a week goes by these days without a titan of Japan Inc. falling on hard times. Shareholders are gripped by a sense of dread that the great corporate leaders that helped build the world’s third-largest economy are losing their grip. The fear is spreading to even the best-run companies. While those emotions are understandable, investors would …

The unexpectedly large fine the European Commission has slapped on Google—€2.4 billion—is evidence that the search giant’s relationship with European regulators is now a vicious circle of escalation. Google’s reluctance to give up any revenue from its fastest-growing ad format may lead to significant, unpredictable losses in its biggest market outside the US. The case in which competition commissioner Margrethe …

DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s stock slumped on Sunday as a deadline for Doha to accept a series of political demands by four Arab states was expected to expire late in the day with no sign of the crisis ending while Saudi Arabia’s rally extended for a third session. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said at the weekend …

Bloomberg Unicaja Banco SA raised about 688 million euros ($783 million) in an initial public offering that turned into a test of confidence in Spanish banks after this month’s demise of a larger lender. Unicaja, based in the southern city of Malaga, priced the sale of 40.3 percent of its equity at 1.10 euros per share, the low end of …

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc became the first foreign bank to win permission for a majority-owned securities joint venture in China, a structure some of its competitors have unsuccessfully lobbied to secure for several years. The London-based firm received approval to invest 918 million yuan ($135 million) for 51 percent of a venture with Qianhai Financial Holdings Co., the China Securities …