Japan's spluttering economy shows little sign of recovering before the country hosts the summer Olympic Games in 2020, and holds a lesson for others, writes Brian Caplen.

One the face of it, it's an easy win: governments spend money on infrastructure projects and the spluttering economies of the developed and developing world would be transformed. However, as Brian Caplen explains, the solution is more to do with political commitment than available funding.

With BNP Paribas announcing the sale of First Hawaiian Bank, Brian Caplen examines whether banks that do business through a narrow channel really are stronger that those with multiple earning sources.

Banks within the EU may have largely passed the stress tests to show how they would survive adverse economic growth in the years to 2018, but the problem with adverse scenarios, writes Brian Caplen, is that the form they take is notoriously difficult to predict or replicate.

Banks are under pressure from the prolonged low-interest-rate environment and increased regulatory pressures. For most Western lenders, the only solution going forward is to cut costs, but at a level that few will want to take on.

Trade agreements everywhere are hostage to politics and protest, meaning that the UK can't expect an easy ride as it prepares for post-Brexit life, writes Brian Caplen.

Banking union is another EU policy stuck halfway, writes Brian Caplen.

As the UK comes to terms with the result of its referendum decision to leave the EU, the challenges facing what is left of the union are mounting, writes Brian Caplen.

The EU should respond constructively to the UK's referendum result for its own survival.