Trump needs an honest broker on the economy

It shouldn’t be a problem that incoming National Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow isn’t a trained economist possessing an advanced degree. It isn’t even necessarily disqualifying that he’s known as a famously bad pundit on financial matters. Neither shortcoming makes it impossible for him to do an excellent job leading the National Economic Council (NEC). But another skill is absolutely central ...

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Hong Kong’s ‘dominant billionaires’

Li Ka-shing’s retirement from the empire he built over 68 years marks the end of an era for Hong Kong’s dominant billionaires and, in important ways, for the territory itself. A wartime refugee who started with nothing when the then-British colony was relatively poor and struggling, Li rose with other tycoons of his time as the city developed economically under ...

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UK’s gender pay gaps

Every day that draws closer to the April 4 deadline for British companies to declare their gender pay gaps brings a pickup in the number of reports on file, and these cement the sad truth that men tend to get paid more than women. Only about a fifth of the companies who must submit their wage data have done so. ...

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Bitcoin isn’t an investment until buyers sweat the fees

If you want to know where cryptocurrencies are in their development, keep an eye on fees. When a new “investment” comes along, investors are often too busy counting their anticipated bounty to care about cost. Shrewd purveyors predictably seize the opportunity to charge excessive fees. But reality inevitably falls short of investors’ expectations, and the focus eventually turns to how ...

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Actually, big nations can lose trade wars as well

One of the more mystifying features of recent economic debate is how many people seem unbothered by the very real possibility of an old-fashioned trade war. Donald Trump, of course, relishes the possibility of such a battle — as he would, no doubt, any war he didn’t have to fight personally. Naturally, he’s convinced that the US would ‘win’ one. ...

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Retail industry’s middle ground is a tough place

The retail industry has plenty of reason to be upbeat in these early months of 2018. The holiday season was a roaring one, and Amazon.com Inc. didn’t claim all the spoils. Many big-name chains fared well, and consumer sentiment remains strong, suggesting the good times will keep rolling. But stepping back for a longer view of retail’s prospects, I’d caution ...

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Stephen Hawking and the unconstrained mind

In Professor Dowell’s Head, a 1925 science fiction novel by Alexander Belyayev that was a must read when I was a kid, a dying scientist bequeaths his body to a colleague who then revives just the heart and the head. In this form, Professor Dowell lives on but hates it. The life of British physicist Stephen Hawking, who died on ...

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Airbus sees C Series deal closing this year

Bloomberg Airbus SE’s deal to take a controlling stake in the Bombardier Inc. C Series jetliner programme could be finalised by the time of the Farnborough Air Show this summer, according to people familiar with the matter. Antitrust approval for the plan, which the planemakers had been seeking by the end of the year, is likely to come earlier than ...

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Toys ‘R’ Us shutters stores

Bloomberg The collapse of Toys ‘R’ Us Inc. is yet another blow for landlords, who now will have gaping holes of suburban retail space up for grabs. And few tenants would want them. The debt-laden toy chain, with more than 700 stores across the US, became one of the largest victims of the retail decline when it announced that it ...

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Coles spinoff plan may put Australian retail giant in play

Bloomberg Wesfarmers Ltd.’s plan to spin off its Coles supermarket and convenience stores could put the Australian retailing giant in play. The business, which generated A$39.2 billion ($30.5 billion) in sales from 2,500 stores in fiscal 2017, could be attractive to a buyer looking to make a big splash Down Under, Citigroup Inc.’s Sydney-based credit specialist Anthony Ip said. “We ...

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