Industrial Strategy is making a comeback. One of Theresa May’s first acts as prime minister was to create a new “Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.” That may sound impressive, but history is littered with equally well-intentioned but unsuccessful industrial strategies. For every case of success one can find more than one case of failure. Previous attempts at ...

  McDonald’s Corp. looks like it’s gotten itself a happy meal in China. The consortium purchasing the assets, however, risks a bout of indigestion. The world’s biggest fast-food chain couldn’t have done much better than locking up Citic Group Corp. and Carlyle Group LP as buyers of its franchise in Asia’s largest economy. The $3 billion price tag that’s being ...

  US airlines rejoiced earlier this year when it was announced that commercial flights would resume to Cuba after more than a half century, with one executive at a major carrier calling it almost a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Yet as service begins this week to Havana, the long-awaited travel surge to the island is already in doubt. Citing weak demand, American ...