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By Christopher Swann
Don’t get too comfortable with low borrowing costs, is the downbeat message from the normally overoptimistic fund. Slightly feebler 3.3 pct growth for 2012 is the short-term concern. But past fiscal excesses and an ageing population could push up interest rates for a generation.

Wal-Mart's banking twist curls through many cracks

By Daniel Indiviglio
The retailer’s new venture with American Express looks a good option for poorer Americans lacking access to financial services. The card also may tempt bank customers with a model that’s neither credit nor typical debit. But with deposits uninsured, regulators must watch closely.

China’s telco suppliers can’t escape spying row

By John Foley
American lawmakers warn that Huawei and ZTE pose a threat to U.S. national security because they are too close to the Chinese state. Such accusations are almost impossible for the targets to contradict. Unless relations improve, the playing field will remain tilted against them.

France's silly stake obsession could kill BAE-EADS

By Pierre Briancon
Germany, France and the UK could agree on the BAE-EADS merger if Paris didn’t insist on keeping a large stake in the joint company, confirming the fears of the deal’s opponents. The French government doesn’t seem to get that there are other ways to remain influential.
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How do India’s markets spell relief? Chidambaram

By Wayne Arnold
Stocks have soared since word broke that the urbane Harvard man might take a third turn as finance chief. His return has been an antidote to predecessor Mukherjee’s errors, and has revived foreign buying. But the rally will only last if reform manages to boost flagging growth.

West still rules in global education

By Edward Hadas
The original homelands of modernity - Europe, the U.S. and their close cousins - account for 90 percent of the world’s top 200 universities in the new Times Higher Education rankings. Developing nations are trying to catch up, but this cultural advantage is likely to persist.

Even one-sided Chinese investment has its benefits

By Christopher Swann
Canadian politicians mulling CNOOC’s $15 billion bid for Nexen want equal rights for their companies to pile into China. That seems only fair. But workers and investors in the west gain even if money flows only one way. It’s the Middle Kingdom that misses out by being closed.
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