February, 2017

• 4 February

  India state polls test Modi popularity after currency chaos

  

    NEW DELHI / AP Nearly three years ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a sweeping national election victory with promises to develop the economy and root out corruption. But with a series of key state elections beginning on Saturday, Modi’s popularity — and his surprise currency decree that sparked months of financial uproar — is now being tested. ...

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• 4 February

  Trump’s senseless war on Mexico

  

    “Mexico braces for a trade war with Washington,” headline in the Financial Times, Jan. 31, 2017. Let’s hope not, because a trade war triggered by President Trump would be an act of pure economic aggression, unjustified either by the United States’ economic and political interests or by Mexico’s behaviour. It would be the economic equivalent of Russia’s seizure of ...

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• 4 February

  Modi reaps the reward of sparing Indians further pain

  

    Most Indians are getting a tax break, thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s botched demonetisation program. A halving of the tax bill for the lower middle class and a 5 percentage point rebate for most companies should go some way to help steady consumption and employment, both of which were hurt by the 8 November ban on high-denomination cash. ...

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• 4 February

  Trump’s chance to act on Iran

    Iran’s recent test of a medium-range ballistic missile is an early indicator that it doesn’t fear the bellicose rhetoric of Donald Trump any more than it did the passive approach of Barack Obama. Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s immediate response — National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said the US is “officially putting Iran on notice” — seems straight out of ...

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• 4 February

  Iran’s malign activities in region must be confronted

    US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions against Iran in retaliation to Tehran’s recent ballistic missile test. More than two dozen people and companies from the Persian Gulf to China face new restrictions for supporting the missile program and providing support for Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guards Corps. They are now prohibited doing any business in the United States or with ...

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• 4 February

  All brace for a €60bn Brexit battle

  

    Like many a divorce, the UK’s separation from Europe threatens to get bogged down over money. While the UK wants to focus straight away on building a post-European Union identity, for the EU the first order of business will be the 60 billion euros the bloc says Britain owes it. Prime Minister Theresa May plans to formally trigger Brexit ...

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• 4 February

  Hudson’s Bay takeover could mean Macy’s end

  

    We may need to brace for the demise of America’s largest department-store chain. Hudson’s Bay Co., the Canadian owner of Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, is in talks to take over Macy’s, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Friday. It would be a spectacular end to a years-long struggle for what was once ...

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• 4 February

  The IMF should get out of Greece

  

    The International Monetary Fund’s involvement in Greece has been an unmitigated disaster: Time and again, its failure to heed crucial lessons has visited suffering upon the Greek people. When the fund’s directors meet on Monday, they should agree to forgive the country’s debts and get out. The IMF should never have gotten into Greece in the first place. As ...

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• 4 February

  Qatar Airways to let barred passengers on US flights

  

    DUBAI / Reuters Gulf carrier Qatar Airways will allow passengers barred from the United States by President Donald Trump’s executive order last week to resume boarding US-bound flights after a federal judge blocked the move, an airline spokeswoman said on Saturday. US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has advised Qatar Airways it can board travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries ...

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• 4 February

  Air France reopens USA flights

    PARIS / Reuters Air France said on Saturday it had reopened US-bound flights to passengers affected by President Donald Trump’s travel ban on nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, after the executive order was temporarily suspended by a federal court. “Starting today we are implementing this court decision,” Air France spokesman Herve Erschler said. “Nationals from the countries concerned are ...

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