[Justin Fendos] Stop buying bitcoin, please

Do yourself a favor: stop buying bitcoin. Yes, I can read charts too. I can see how the graph has gone up from $800 per coin in January 2017 to a little over $15,000 this January. But seriously, do yourself a favor and stop buying. This is the most obvious bubble ever.As the first century BC Latin author famously wrote, “Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.” No other quote seems to more perfectly encapsulate the irrational absurdity of bitcoin’s surging value, especially when

Jan. 17, 2018

[Eli Lake] Trump’s policy should focus on Iran’s people, not its centrifuges

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is worried once again that President Donald Trump will blow up the Iran nuclear deal.　It’s not just that the Europeans assert that Iran is complying with the terms of the 2015 accord. It’s also that Gabriel believes exiting the agreement would send the wrong message to North Korea. “It’s absolutely necessary to have the signal that it’s possible by diplomatic approaches to prevent the development of nuclear weapons in a time when other parts of the world ar

Jan. 17, 2018

[Ferdinando Giugliano] After Trump and Brexit, Italy falls for nostalgia

Italy’s politicians often stand accused of lacking the courage needed to shake up the country’s ailing economy. What if, however, the issue was Italian voters, who don’t want a reformist government? 　This question springs to mind watching the depressing campaign ahead of Italy’s general elections, which will be held on March 4. Italians look increasingly set on going back to the future, supporting the 81-year old media tycoon and convicted felon Silvio Berlusconi, a four-time former Italian prim

Jan. 17, 2018

[Leonid Bershidsky] A soccer precedent for a Brexit revote

Nigel Farage, that most notorious of Brexit agitators, hasn’t made any friends by suggesting that the UK should “maybe, just maybe” have a second referendum on EU membership. Fellow nationalists, the Conservative government, the opposition Labour Party -- no one seems to want a replay of the 2016 vote. But even if Farage is just fishing for attention, he’s essentially right. Here’s a sports analogy the Brits might want to consider.In 1999, Arsenal was the second-strongest team in England’s Premi

Jan. 16, 2018

[Matthew Winkler] Dubai’s the very model of a modern Mideast economy

For more than 100 years, the Middle East has been defined by oil exploration, production and its boundaries. Now the region is getting repurposed by its aspiration to grow beyond fossil fuel. The shake-up in Saudi Arabia’s royal family was as much about becoming a 21st-century economy as it was about rooting out corruption.　None of the region’s petrostates has moved further from its oilfield roots than Dubai, which has been diversifying its economy since the 1970s. The result is a thriving gatew

Jan. 16, 2018

[Trudy Rubin] Is Israel heading toward one binational state?

As I saw firsthand on a recent trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank, Israel is heading pell-mell toward an unprecedented danger: A “one-state solution” in which the Jewish state will control an unwilling population of Palestinian Arabs that soon outnumbers Jews.　Emboldened by President Donald Trump, the Israeli right is rushing to foreclose any prospect of a two-state solution to the conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party now formally demands the annexation of Jewish settlement

Jan. 16, 2018

[Dan K. Thomasson] Walls don’t work

Building walls to keep your neighbor out or you in is not a viable solution to anything in the modern world. If the Berlin Wall taught us anything, that was it. It is just a plain and simple stupid idea and an enormously expensive one.　How costly?　Donald Trump now says it is an $18 billion project. But not long ago his estimate was $4 billion. And it is probably safe to say that will become substantially more if the barrier gets approved and goes forward. By the way, we’re not talking about an e

Jan. 16, 2018

[Leonid Bershidsky] Why Russians are choosing Malta over Putin

Despite growing hostility between Russia and the West, President Vladimir Putin clearly hasn’t succeeded in convincing the Russian business community that it should be more patriotic. The list of new citizens of Malta, published by the island nation’s government, has enough well-known Russian names to drive home an uncomfortable truth for the Kremlin: The Russian elite doesn’t feel attached to Putin’s besieged fortress project.Malta’s so-called Individual Investor Program allows a nonresident fo

Jan. 15, 2018

[Elizabeth Johnson, Jeff Orlowski] Use the ocean without using it all up

The Trump administration announced last week that it would open 90 percent of our coastal waters to oil and gas drilling. It declared last month that it would shrink or eliminate several national monuments -- both terrestrial and marine. Last year, it rolled back safety requirements that prevent spills such as the Deepwater Horizon, and it stated it would reconsider protections of national marine sanctuaries. The reigning principle here, to the extent that there is one, is to put short-term econ

Jan. 15, 2018

[Mac Margolis] Argentina’s Macri has a tough road ahead

Mauricio Macri had a pretty good year. Having settled a sulfurous quarrel over past-due debts with cranky hedge funds, the Argentine president went on to dismantle market-warping energy subsidies, rehabilitate the census bureau, slow inflation, and thwart a Peronist revolt to lead his fledgling Cambiemos political coalition to a major victory in the October midterm elections. Then, just before Christmas, he persuaded Congress to roll back corporate taxes and even tweak old age pensions, the gran

Jan. 15, 2018

[Gina Barreca] Letting go of life’s trivial baggage at 61

How old is old?　Be careful before answering: I have a horse in this race.I’m turning 61 and I still consider myself too energetic, too lively and too frisky to be regarded as a mare. I prefer to regard myself as a filly. But I might be closer to being a nag.I’m just trying to be honest with myself and pass the message along to others my age: What changes, for better and for worse, as we get older?I was prompted to write about age this week not only because of my birthday but because I read in a

Jan. 14, 2018

[Leonid Bershidsky] Europe has completely turned the tables on Brexit

The UK’s obvious turnabout on the desirability of a no-deal exit from the European Union shows how completely the tables have turned in the Brexit negotiations. With less than a year to seal a trade deal, the EU is nudging the UK toward an understanding that the only benign outcome is agreeing to a long transition period. That could allow a different UK team to emerge with a humbler approach.David Davis, the UK Brexit minister, has written Prime Minister Theresa May a letter complaining that the

Jan. 14, 2018

[John B. King Jr] On MLK Day, acknowledge the past to improve US future

To truly honor Martin Luther King’s legacy, it is important for us not only to celebrate the progress that the civil rights movement made possible but also to grapple with the full truth of our nation’s history, to acknowledge the inequities with which our society still struggles and to recognize our individual responsibility for social change.　As I reflect on our continued march toward social justice, I’m reminded of one of the most moving experiences from my time as US secretary of education.

Jan. 14, 2018