Consumer advocates are cheering Amazon’s quiet decision to stop mandating arbitration for most customer disputes. The online retail giant, like other vendors, has heretofore included in its terms of service a ban on lawsuits. Without making a public announcement, the company has switched gears. We might be cheering too soon. Even though Amazon had little choice — more on that ...

As much as the US pines for the good old days of global semiconductor supremacy, Japan feels its loss of glory even more. Once a dominant name in electronic components, the nation has been overtaken by South Korea, Taiwan, and, more recently, China. Yet Tokyo may have a viable plan to revitalise its domestic sector. “Unlike the purely domestic, independent ...

One of the biggest questions hanging over the US economy right now is whether the government is spending too much money. Some prominent economists are warning it’s time to pump the brakes. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package came on top of $3.1 trillion in similar outlays back in 2020; and now the president is planning at least ...