The global economy is gathering momentum, the International Monetary Fund has declared. That’s probably correct and undeniably encouraging, but there’s an ominous discord between this economic expansion and what’s euphemistically called “political uncertainty” — that is, the stresses caused by surging anti-trade, anti-market, anti-immigrant populism. This “uncertainty” could be the prelude to some seriously bad policies, enough to derail …

  For centuries, Afghanistan has been a cauldron of chaos, conflict and anarchy. But the chaos has not been created or opted by Afghans. It has been engineered, exported to, and planted in the country. The foreign invasions in past decades, insurgency and civil war have totally destroyed Afghanistan, which has been haunted by great game between big powers jostling …

  When it emerged last week that China Minsheng Banking Corp. had sold $436 million in suspect wealth-management products, fears rose of a collapse in the loosely regulated market for such products. It now looks like a more mundane case of forgery involving a branch manager. But that’s not exactly reassuring: In fact, it suggests a different kind of systemic …

  A recurring theme at Gadfly is Amazon.com Inc.’s ambitions to do everything under the sun. It looks as if the company now wants to become a quasi app store similar to Apple or Google’s mobile versions. Amazon has created a single spot for people to sign up to digital subscriptions from companies including the Los Angeles Times and digital …

  Officials may not say so directly, but the US appears to consider Germany a currency manipulator. Germany’s large trade surplus, the accusation goes, comes at the expense of US companies. So, as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble traveled to Washington on Wednesday for an International Monetary Fund meeting, he brought along an eight-page primer on the German current account …

  Bloomberg US stock futures jumped as blue chips from Caterpillar Inc. to McDonald’s Corp. reported results. Canada’s dollar led export currencies lower as a tariff on lumber reignited concern the Trump administration will pursue protectionist policies. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied, indicating the underlying index may rise to an all-time high. Caterpillar climbed more than 6 …

  Reuters Stock markets in the Gulf most exposed to foreign trade held their ground on Tuesday, with Dubai and Qatar showing resilience in the face of disappointing results from blue-chip companies. In Dubai, shares of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications (Du) lost 3 percent after reporting a net profit of 364.9 million dirhams ($99.35 million) in the three months to March …

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways has thrown down the gauntlet to the millions of guests who transit through its Abu Dhabi home, as well as the residents of the UAE, by challenging them to experience a host of ‘once in a lifetime’ activities throughout the emirate in just two days. The ‘48 Hour Challenge’ is part of …

  Bloomberg Qatar Airways Ltd. plans to buy a stake in another foreign airline, extending an expansion push that’s seen the Gulf carrier build up overseas holdings and announce new routes to the US even as President Donald Trump’s seeks to restrict travel to the world’s largest economy. The state-owned company, which has expressed interest in Royal Air Maroc in …

  Bloomberg United Airlines has another passenger complaint to deal with — this time in court. Karen Shiboleth claims she was forced out of her business-class seat during a flight to London from Newark, New Jersey, in September and escorted to the rear of the plane without an explanation. She sued the airline on Monday, claiming she’s out $9,146 in …