Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel said German parties need to overcome “very serious differences” if they want to seal a government pact this weekend and pave the way for her fourth term. Heading into her coalition-building endgame , Merkel said she’s “hopeful that we can make it work.” Social Democratic leader Martin Schulz, whose party is split over whether to stay ...

Bloomberg Togo’s opposition has agreed to suspend protests to allow West African mediators to resolve a months-long political crisis triggered by planned constitutional reforms which could extend the rule of President Faure Gnassingbe. Mediators from Guinea and Ghana will oversee talks between the opposition and the government of the West African nation from Feb. 15, according to an emailed statement ...

Bloomberg The Kremlin has decided to delay Vladimir Putin’s annual state-of-the-nation speech to closer to the March 18 vote, giving him a key platform for him to lay out priorities for his next presidential term, according to three officials familiar with the plans. The landmark event on Russia’s political calendar is expected to take place in late February or early ...

In 1930, John Maynard Keynes was worried, but not about the unpleasantness that had begun the previous year and would linger long enough to become known as the Great Depression. What troubled the British economist was that humanity ‘is solving its economic problem.’ In his essay ‘Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren,’ Keynes, seeking to dispel pessimism, predicted that, ‘assuming no ...

Sending investors the bill for a shortfall from India’s new goods and services (GST) tax is a bad idea. Finance minister Arun Jaitley should resist the temptation. A long-term capital gains levy on equity can be problematic in a country perennially short of domestic savings. In a frothy stock market, it’s like crying “fire” in a crowded room. Profits from ...

As Janet Yellen’s tenure comes to an end, it’s worth reflecting on what may be her greatest accomplishment as chair of the Federal Reserve: With calm and dispassionate competence, she kept the central bank at arm’s length from a political system paralyzed by partisan strife. Look at the rest of Washington to see how valuable to the country that distance ...

The UK economy isn’t in recession. So why are some businesses having such a bad time? The number of profit warnings by British firms is at the highest in two years, with retailers and outsourcing firms among the worst-hit, according to accounting firm EY. Carillion Plc imploded this month, while shares of Carpetright Plc and Dignity Plc have seen 50 ...

Have you ever had the wild thought that if you shut your eyes really tight and then opened them again, you’d wake up and find that you were a kid again, and that your whole adult life had been one long dream? No more backaches, no more mortgage payments, just Saturday morning cartoons and Mom and Dad waiting for you ...

What goes up must come down, unless we’re talking about Boeing Co. The plane-maker — now also the biggest US industrial company after doubling its market value over the last year — reported fourth-quarter results last week that were nearly perfect. The recently passed US tax legislation contributed an outsized $1.74 to Boeing’s fourth-quarter earnings per share, equating to a ...

The re-election of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in October was welcomed warmly by stock market investors. The reappointment of Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to another five-year term starting this April would also be viewed as a reassuring sign of policy continuity. The Japanese tradition of naming economic expansions after Shinto deities dates back to the 1950s. A fitting ...