Bloomberg For a country that set a record in holding the world’s largest single-day election, the verdict on who emerged victorious from Indonesia’s mammoth exercise isn’t breaking any. A delay in official results of the presidential election has led its two contenders to claim victory, deepening a divide among the electorate after a seven-month long polarising campaign that centred on ...

Bloomberg Ukrainians are poised to elect the country’s most-watched comedian as president in a backlash at the ex-Soviet republic’s lack of progress since a revolution five years ago. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old TV comic who’s tapped into fury at the political class, was expected to comfortably defeat incumbent Petro Poroshenko at a runoff on Sunday, according to opinion polls. Despite ...

Some government foolishness has an educational value that compensates for its considerable cost. Consider the multibillion-dollar federal electric-vehicle tax credit, which efficiently illustrates how government can, with one act, diminish its already-negligible prestige while subtracting from America’s fairness. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., hope to repeal the tax credit, which probably will survive because it does ...

As China posts yet another quarter of six percent-plus growth, analysts have been quick to brand the latest upswing as a rebound. Buoyed by this year’s double-digit stock-market gains, large flows of credit and tax cuts for consumers, Beijing is trying to sell the narrative that growth remains stable. Some official statistics seem to support that theory: Gross domestic product ...

Two consumer goods giants, two first-quarter reports that exceeded analysts’ expectations. Which is better? Nestle SA and Unilever both have the same problem. They have to show they can grow, but at the same time improve profitability. To this end, both are reshaping their core portfolios. Nestle has an activist investor lurking in the background, while Unilever is at risk ...

Anti-establishment parties have made real inroads in southern Europe in recent years, taking power in Italy and Greece after vowing to jettison mainstream political thinking and challenge the economic consensus in Brussels. As Spain goes to the polls this month, many are worried about the rise of Vox, an anti-immigrant, anti-feminist movement that has emerged as a genuine electoral force. ...

Here’s some good news for America’s flood-hit farmers: China is looking at shifting agricultural tariffs, imposed as part of its tit-for-tat trade war with President Donald Trump, to other products instead. Levies of some sort would still remain in place, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg News, but move to non-agricultural items. That would allow Beijing to match Washington’s ...

Japan lost its position as the world’s second-biggest economy to China awhile ago. But it’s beating out its Asian rival in one area at least: private equity. For restructuring experts such as KKR & Co. LP, whose founders recently declared Japan the company’s “highest priority” outside the US, the smaller country offers much more attractive opportunities. And the reasons are ...

At this point in the earnings season for big US banks, it was clear that Morgan Stanley’s figures were going to be down — the more pressing question was by how much. After all, the firm derives almost all of its revenue from market-related fees, a weak spot for competitors like Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., ...

Bloomberg A storm is brewing for Malaysian bonds, as the threat of an $8 billion outflow and a falling ringgit erode sentiment, even in the face of a likely interest-rate cut. The biggest rally in ringgit bonds in three years, fuelled by bets for policy easing, has ground to a halt. FTSE Russell sparked the latest — and perhaps biggest ...