The Big Picture

The Sino-American trade conflict has taken a further turn for the worse, with the renminbi once again in the spotlight. Should the rest of the world brace itself for financial turmoil and economic recession, or might cooler heads yet prevail?

The “Britain Trump” is how the real one ineloquently described Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom’s new prime minister. If the label fits, the country could be poised precariously between disaster and catastrophe.

While other technology companies are encountering headwinds, Facebook continues to grow, suggesting that its recently announced cryptocurrency will enjoy a massive global user base. The only thing standing in the company’s way are financial regulators, assuming they aren't asleep at the wheel.

As economic growth around the world begins to slow, central bankers will have more to worry about than the US president’s fulminations on Twitter. Shoveling the economy out of its next rut could mean digging their own political graves.

With the rise in much of the West of forces espousing authoritarian nationalism, explaining the vulnerability of liberal democracy has become a cottage industry. A seemingly simple phenomenon has turned out to be rather complex, demanding a multidisciplinary approach.

The European Council’s choice of candidates to fill the top European Union jobs has brought temporary relief at a politically fraught moment.

But the EU’s new leaders face a daunting challenge: persuading the bloc’s member states to work together toward the shared policies that all of them need.

Another escalation in the standoff between protesters and the Hong Kong government has raised the stakes for both sides. Is a resolution still possible, given the deep roots and far-reaching implications of the confrontation?

Since its first summit in 2008, the Group of 20 has become a premier forum for setting the global policy agenda. But when world leaders convene in Osaka this weekend for the G20’s 14th gathering, will they be faced with too many pressing issues to make meaningful progress on any?

As America’s economy enters a record-breaking 11th year of growth, its expansion appears unsinkable. But is a celebration in order, or should policymakers be readying the lifeboats?

Universal basic income is that rare idea supported by libertarians and socialists alike. But should it be taken seriously?

Many on the political left want central banks to play a much larger role in funding public programs directly, based on an approach known as Modern Monetary Theory. But to get what they want, they will have to win the ongoing debate about the economic soundness of their ideas.

Much has changed in China in the three decades since the Tiananmen Square massacre. But the government’s official erasure of an event that has defined China’s modern history shows that much else remains the same.