A recent New York Times investigation described how Facebook bungled its response to the misinformation that has proliferated on its platform. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged in an interview that the problems his company is grappling with “are not issues that any one company can address.” He’s right: The problem of fake news has become too big for any social ...

It’s true that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is not independent, but the central bank of the world’s second-largest economy is outgrowing that excuse. There’s plenty it can and should do without explicit sign-off from above. Start by tackling what a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) paper calls low-hanging fruits. This is basic and important stuff like beefed-up forecasts, ...

Even as politicians in the US and Europe rage about foreigners supposedly swamping their shores, one of the world’s most insular countries — Japan — is on the verge of passing what might be its most sweeping immigration reform to date. Welcome as this would be, the plan isn’t sweeping enough. A bill approved by the lower house of the ...

When Tony Blair and Boris Johnson unite in their condemnation of the ‘deal’ under which UK Prime Minister Theresa May proposes that the UK should leave the EU, you know something has gone badly wrong. The withdrawal agreement is less a carefully crafted diplomatic compromise and more the result of incompetence of a high order. I have friends who are ...

Sorry, Donald Trump: General Motors Co. isn’t leaving China anytime soon. It can’t and it won’t. After the automaker announced plant closings across North America as part of a wide-ranging restructuring plan, the president lashed out on Twitter, threatening to strip GM of any US government subsidies. He also pointed out that nothing was “being closed in Mexico & China” ...

Coal is an anachronism that also happens to be the single largest source of electricity on the planet. Some of its resilience reflects pure politics (“beautiful clean coal”). But there’s another aspect more akin to that guilty pleasure that floods through you when you devour a hamburger. Like you, sometimes a country wants energy fast and doesn’t want to pay ...

Bloomberg European and Asian stocks dropped following the rout on Wall Street, though declines were contained and US equity futures rose after China pledged to start delivering on trade agreements reached with America. The pound erased a gain as the UK government published legal advice relating to its proposed Brexit deal. Global markets were left reeling following the steep sell-off ...

Bloomberg India stocks declined after the central bank maintained its hawkish stance on inflation while keeping the key policy rate unchanged. The S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.7 percent lower at 35,884.41 in Mumbai. It fell as much as 1 percent after the decision. The NSE Nifty 50 Index slipped 0.8 percent. Markets across Asia tumbled following the biggest decline on ...

Bloomberg European banks are turning to a little-known corner of the debt market as they seek new growth amid slumping loan demand. At least seven lenders, most recently including UBS Group AG, have made their debuts as Schuldschein arrangers this year, pushing into a market traditionally dominated by Germany’s landesbanks. The new entrants, also featuring ABN Amro Group NV and ...

Bloomberg Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams gave an optimistic review of the US economy, reiterated his support for further gradual interest-rate increases and expressed no concern that market participants have dialed back expectations for policy tightening in 2019. Markets moved sharply after Chairman Jerome Powell said that the Fed is getting closer to its range of ...