The steady decline of the U.S. dollar to record lows on almost a daily basis should be sounding alarm bells in Washington.

Attempts at austerity and deleveraging in Europe have converted an economic problem into a political dilemma, with leftist governments rising against Germany's austerity-laced rescue packages. Germany now faces a tough economic decision that will involve choosing between a breakup of the current euro system and a movement toward a common fiscal policy in Europe.

When Vladimir Putin returns to the Russian presidency on Monday, May 7, the pageantry surrounding his inauguration will aim to portray a picture of unassailable strength, a confident master of his domain invulnerable to pressures from within or without. But things are not quite as stable...

What's needed is the strong arm of the European Central Bank to remove catastrophic risk from the marketplace without risking the bank's core mission of fighting inflation.

A mass firing by a Rhode Island high school superintendent shows how leaders with backbone can eventually force union leadership to accept a new reality.

Does a pension plan that takes more investment risk become better funded? Both the current accounting standards and the proposed revisions answer yes, while economic theory and real-world financial markets say no. Until and unless this central question is answered correctly, both the size of pension liabilities and the steps that could address them will be misunderstood.

While there might be symbolic appeal to the idea of China riding to Europe's rescue, the reality would be less romantic: a relatively poor country would be sending its savings to a collection of wealthy ones.

Congress should require banks to increase capital relative to their assets as asset size increases.