The Chinese government, subtle masters of propaganda, seem to have discovered a Sun Tzu formula for taming dissent on the internet: The best strategy may not be to confront critics directly, but to lull or distract them with a tide of good news. This intriguing argument is suggested by a recent article in the American Political Science Review titled ‘How ...

Although Raghuram Rajan co-wrote the influential 2003 book, Saving Capitalism From the Capitalists, it has fallen upon his successor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to actually attempt such a thing. By the looks of it, Urjit Patel has a hard slog ahead. For now, the governor of India’s central bank can breathe a sigh of relief. His most ...

The failure of three banks in less than a month has led the European Central Bank to wonder whether it needs fresh powers to deal with struggling lenders. Some new tools might prove useful, but they aren’t the main thing. What the ECB needs most is the will to resist political pressure and act promptly when necessary. The recent crisis ...

After years of horrific fighting in Syria — including several failed cease-fires — it’s hard to get too excited about a limited agreement to stop hostilities in a tiny corner of the country. Yet the modest ‘de-escalation’ deal in Syria’s southwest is a promising sign. IS is not yet defeated. But the cease-fire, reached by Jordan, Russia and the US, ...

At this point, blanket critiques of the economics (or “econ”)discipline have been standardized to the point where it’s pretty easy to predict how they’ll proceed. Economists will be castigated for their failure to foresee the Great Recession. Some unrealistic assumptions in mainstream macroeconomic models will be mentioned. Economists will be cast as priests of free-market ideology, whose shortcomings will be ...

Britain’s commercial property market is at the epicenter of the Brexit tremor. One of the industry’s titans, British Land Co., is fed up with investors’ reluctance to buy its shares. The company plans to buy back as much as 300 million pounds ($390 million) of its own stock, about 5 percent of its equity value. It’s a bet that the ...

If it looks as though Europe is clutching at straws to stop hundreds, sometimes thousands, of migrants from crossing the Mediterranean into Italy every day, that’s exactly what’s happening. On Monday, the European Union’s foreign ministers approved restrictions on the supply of inflatable boats and outboard motors to Libya. The boats that bring the migrants, mostly Africans these days, have ...

Bloomberg China has finally opened up its credit-rating market. But foreign credit assessors aren’t likely to waltz in, local money managers say. The challenge for rating companies, which generally charge issuers for scoring them, will be to win business from borrowers used to getting high grades from local assessors. That’s key after Sunday, which marked the day by which China ...

Bloomberg Stocks rose Wednesday on earnings strength, with the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index adding to Tuesday’s record highs. The euro retraced some recent gains as European policy makers gathered in Frankfurt before Thursday’s rate decision. Oil fluctuated. It was a day of reversing trends in Europe, with the common currency coming off the highest close since August ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is planning to hire more relationship managers in Saudi Arabia, joining rivals including Deutsche Bank AG in designating the country as a priority for their wealth management business. The recruitment drive comes after the Zurich-based bank established a platform allowing it to offer private banking services and products in the country, according to an emailed ...