Bloomberg The retailer Muji became one of Japan’s most recognisable brands by selling simple, practical items that it hopes will last for decades. It turns out, though, that “less is more” has its limits as a business strategy. After a decade of expansion that brought its minimalist emporia of modular shelving, sturdy kitchen gear and earth-tone fashions to cities from ...

President Donald Trump claims he has “tremendous Democrat support” in the House for the accord he signed last year with Mexico and Canada to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. He threatens to withdraw from Nafta if Congress doesn’t quickly pass his new trade deal. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants the deal, now called the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement, improved ...

India is killing off the one industry that can bring badly behaving tycoons into line while nudging savers away from an unproductive lust for gold. That industry is domestic hedge funds, which have taken seven years to reach $6 billion in investment commitments from nothing. By contrast, equity investment in India by overseas financial investors is upward of $400 billion. ...