At a European Union summit this week, the bloc’s leaders are expected to formally declare that the Brexit talks can move forward. Not a moment too soon. Britain and the EU have spent 18 months since the UK’s decision to quit avoiding the main issues — namely, their future trading relationship and a plan for getting from here to there. ...

The question of nature versus nurture is an important one, but also an incredibly delicate one. How much of the disparities we see in society are fuelled by a lack of good education, social influences and role models, and how much are due to natural ability? Given that people in advanced countries spend multiple decades of their life in school, ...

If you can’t beat them, regulate them. That sounds like a pretty good mantra for governments the world over trying to wrap their heads around this tamagotchi of finance better known as bitcoin. South Korea is the latest to propose cryptocurrency measures after a surge in trading started to ring alarm bells. The fact that its citizens were paying close ...

Facebook is projected to boost sales by 46 percent and double net income, but make no mistake: It had a terrible year. Despite its financial performance, the social media giant is facing a reckoning in 2018 as regulators close in on several fronts. The main issue cuts to the core of the company itself: Rather than ‘building global community,’ as ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Russia surprised the market with a cut in its key rate that was double what economists expected, but warned that it’s not shifting into higher gear on easing. A deal between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to maintain oil production cuts until the end of 2018 was a key factor lifting the ...

Bloomberg Spain kicked off the race to lock down the European Central Bank vice presidency after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy confirmed the nation will bid for the post. The Spanish premier said the country is well-placed to present “a female or male” candidate for the role set to become vacant after the current No. 2, Portugal’s Vitor Constancio, retires in ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Spain cut its estimate for economic growth for 2018 and 2019 because of the impact of political uncertainty related to Catalonia’s drive for independence. Growth is set to slow to 2.4 percent next year from a previous estimate of 2.5 percent in September before the secession crisis erupted. The economy will grow 2.1 percent in 2019 ...

Bloomberg The German economic upswing is reaching an “increasingly mature state,” according to the Bundesbank. The Frankfurt-based institution lifted its projections for growth in Europe’s largest economy through 2019 and said it expects momentum to remain strong over the coming year, before moderating in the medium term. The Bundesbank sees inflation accelerating to 1.9 percent in 2020, with energy costs ...

Bloomberg A new dissenter on the Bank of Japan board calling for more stimulus has prompted the BOJ to adjust its communications to flag risks of additional eas- ing, according to people familiar with the central bank’s discussions. The change in messaging could explain why some investors wrongly interpreted Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s recent comments on the “reversal rate” theory as ...

Bloomberg Target Corp. agreed to purchase grocery-delivery startup Shipt Inc. for $550 million, stepping up its challenge to Amazon.com Inc. by speeding the rollout of same-day shipping. The all-cash deal will let Target customers order groceries and other goods online, and then have the items sent directly to their doors from nearby Target stores. Buying Shipt further beefs up Target’s ...