Bloomberg CBS Corp. overcame a last-ditch attempt to derail its planned takeover of ailing Australian broadcaster Ten Network Holdings Ltd. after a Sydney court dismissed a challenge by local media mogul Bruce Gordon. CBS is free to vote on its proposed acquisition at Tuesday’s meeting of Ten creditors, Justice Ashley Black said in a ruling on Monday at the New ...
Read More »Fosun takes Gland Pharma bid to $1.1 billion
Bloomberg Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. scaled back its proposed purchase of control in Indian drugmaker Gland Pharma Ltd. to a level that would allow it to avoid a government review of the biggest Chinese acquisition in India. Fosun Pharma, backed by Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang, will now buy a 74 percent stake for $1.1 billion, according to a statement. ...
Read More »Bring back the ombudsman
How can news organizations avoid the trap that President Trump has laid for them in his attacks on the media as a one-sided “opposition party†that caters to anti-Trump elites and purveys “fake news†to readers and viewers? Part of the answer is simply for journalists to keep doing their jobs, aggressively and fairly. We’re not in the business of ...
Read More »Arrest the American caught with IS
President Donald Trump has to decide what to do with an American who was fighting for IS, captured by Kurdish forces in Syria and handed over this week to the US military. The best solution is also the simplest: Charge him with material support for terrorism, convict him and lock him up in an appropriate US prison for many, many ...
Read More »Bipartisanship wins a round at White House
Economists of all political views breathed a sigh of relief and celebrated when Kevin Hassett was confirmed last week as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Hassett, my former American Enterprise Institute colleague, is widely respected, as evidenced by a June letter of support for his nomination signed by 44 leading economists from both the left and right. The ...
Read More »Myanmar’s shame and Suu Kyi’s reputation
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s iconic leader, is sacrificing her moral authority for political expediency. By failing to speak out against repression—and, more broadly, by not doing enough to help her country grow and prosper—she risks losing both her power and her reputation. Suu Kyi, whose years leading the resistance to the Burmese junta earned her the Nobel Peace Prize, ...
Read More »Trump deal with Democrats brings all new wall pledge
President Donald Trump got elected on the strength of three words: Build the wall. He was more equivocal on Thursday, after cutting a loose deal with Democratic leaders to protect some undocumented immigrants: “We will build the wall later.†Trump’s deal-making has left Republicans unnerved, and some of his strongest backers worried that he’s backtracking on his most central campaign ...
Read More »What makes China’s consumers so confident?
If you only read the headlines—or, say, my columns—you might be pessimistic about China’s economy. Recent news has been dominated by a crackdown on capital outflows, worries about rapid debt growth, and efforts to rein in a risky overseas investment binge. Yet ordinary Chinese are highly optimistic: The China Consumer Confidence Index hit 114.6 in July, a level not seen ...
Read More »Growth isn’t necessarily good news for Kim Jong Un
Byung-Yeon Kim, a professor at Seoul National University, began interviewing North Korean defectors seven years ago to learn more about their country’s economy. One wouldn’t have thought there was much to discover: Often described as “Stalinist,” the hermetic regime to the north seemed to preside over a crude, centrally planned system, with peasants toiling away for a pittance in collective ...
Read More »Stocks advance as US Fed week kicks off; gold drops
Bloomberg US stocks added to records, the dollar halted a two-day drop and Treasuries slipped as investors remained bullish on the American economy ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting. Gold fell as demand for havens faded. The S&P 500 Index held above 2,500, the Stoxx Europe 600 jumped the most in almost a week and equities increased from Australia ...
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