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Bloomberg US Vice President Mike Pence paid an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, a nation where the Trump administration has stepped up involvement in what’s become America’s longest war. Pence told the troops that “victory is closer than ever before,” adding that US arm- ed forces will remain in Afghanistan until the threat to the homeland is eliminated. Before the rally ...

Bloomberg Deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont demanded the Spanish government recognise his victory in regional election and drop an arrest warrant, to let him end a self-imposed exile in Belgium and return to power. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy refused. He said only the courts could deal with arrests and if he should meet anyone, it’s the head of the pro-Spain ...

What I most dislike about the Trump/ Republican tax plan is the shameless cynicism with which it has been peddled. Recall how it works: The government borrows $1.5 trillion over a decade and instantly uses that money to cut taxes for major constituencies — workers, families, small businesses and big companies. The handouts aim to buy votes. This is borrowing ...

For retailers, December isn’t just the holiday shopping season. It’s also holiday return season, when consumers decide to send back all the stuff that didn’t fit, work or meet expectations. It’s an expensive ritual. According to the National Retail Federation, returns account for around 8 percent of total annual retail sales. Online retailers face an even heavier burden, with returns ...

Chuck Norris didn’t dial the wrong number; you answered the wrong phone. So the old joke goes about the paragon of omnipotence in the Walker, Texas Ranger television show. As the year draws to a close, it’s time to check in and see what Chuck might make of the current world of business and finance. Here goes: Chuck’s global macro ...

For all the flaws of the Jones Act — the 1920 legislation requiring that all maritime commerce between US ports take place on ships owned, built and crewed by Americans — there’s no faulting its professed goal. The US needs a thriving maritime sector, for both economic and military reasons. The best way to achieve this is to lift the ...

I’m a recovering smartphone addict, so you might expect me to welcome the French government’s decision to ban the devices in primary and middle schools. Actually, I don’t: The problem is the software, not the phones themselves. At best, banning smartphones would require kids to learn antiquated skills, something they arguably do too much of in school already. The modern ...

Everything comes at a cost. To ensure steady economic growth, China is considering softening its focus on cutting debt in 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported. “Let’s face it. It’s not realistic to reduce leverage when the whole economy relies on banks for financing,” an official told the Journal’s Lingling Wei. For emerging-market bulls, that’s the best news this holiday ...

Blockchain technology, which has already been adopted by gold traders, is starting to show the potential to transform other sectors of the global physical commodities markets. While it wouldn’t necessarily boost commodity prices, the innovation could offer a secure means of exchange of raw materials, open up channels of trade among buyers and sellers that had until now have been ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan left policy settings unchanged in the final meeting of 2017, retaining its unprecedented monetary sti- mulus as it waits for a pickup in stubbornly low inflation. With Japan’s economy continuing to grow at a healthy pace, and inflation at least moving in the right direction, there is little pressure on the BOJ adjust its interest-rate ...