By ordering Apple to pay 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, the European Union has created a somewhat farcical situation. Ireland doesn’t want the money, which amounts to more than four months’ tax revenue for the small nation, and the U.S., where the iPhone maker is headquartered, is on the tax-avoidant company’s side. European Competition ...

  One of the big debates in health care right now is whether to create a public option for health insurance. Most observers of Obamacare agree that the big problem is private insurers pulling out of health-care exchanges. That leaves smaller states with only one or two insurers participating, which kills competition in insurance markets and raises costs. Although there ...

  It’s been a tough summer for China’s movie business. In what’s usually blockbuster season, box-office sales declined for the first time in five years. In July alone, theater visits fell 15 percent. Things are looking especially grim for Chinese films: They’ve been underperforming foreign competition so badly that the government suspended a longstanding moratorium on summer Hollywood flicks intended ...