Opinions

Strictly economic motivations are an important part of the picture in the apparently strange decision by Japan. But they are embedded in social values, such as a cultural aversion to admitting the mistakes surrounding Fukushima

Until now, European, American and Japanese retail giants have conveniently sliced the world market and respected each other's home base. Soon there will be an outright war of everyone against everyone

The burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming with potentially catastrophic effects. A civilizational choice is to be made, one that looks beyond monetary costs and benefits

Since the late 1990s, the international gas market has undergone a profound transformation. Prices have dropped as renewables and shale gas entered the picture, but sources of market friction remain, with gas importers locked into fixedprice contracts

The European Union has yet to learn how to deal with more determined and less conventional international actors. A focus on soft power and agreements couched in bureaucratic and abstract language renders firm, timely action institutionally difficult

In the US, the political parties' statistical infrastructure is decisive at election time. George Soros recently gave $2,5 million to the Democrats to improve their data analysis in an attempt to keep pace with their political adversaries