If there was ever a time for Japan and South Korea to engage in a supply-chain spat, this isn’t it. Last week, Japan moved to restrict exports of materials used to make semiconductors and smartphone screens to its North Asian neighbour, citing grievances between the two countries dating back seven decades. The curbs threaten the flow of components that feeds ...

Softbank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund has invested its $100 billion cash pile in 75 unicorns around the world. Not a single one is from Japan, its own backyard. That may be because the pickings are slim: While the US has 179 unicorns, China 93, and India 18, Japan has just two, according to CB Insights. How can a country that ...

Judy Shelton, the economic adviser President Trump says he is nominating to the Federal Reserve Board, has long been a predictable voice in monetary policy debates. Predictability is often a good thing in that context: It beats being erratic. Many monetary policy specialists want central banks to minimise the possibility of surprises by announcing relatively simple rules they will follow. ...