Like all good financial aphorisms, the notion that “profit is an opinion, while cash is a fact” contains a kernel of truth. It’s certainly a lot easier for companies to massage quarterly earnings than it is to lose track of how much cash they have in the bank. Ultimately, investors use projected cash flows to determine what a business is ...

Empty supermarket shelves in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic have put grow-your-own back on the world’s agenda, and nowhere more so than in China, where ensuring food supplies for its huge population has been a political priority for decades. Simply diversifying imports may not satisfy hawkish voices. Emphasizing domestic production, though, will extract a heavy toll for a ...

The Covid crisis has required strong and prompt action by central banks consistent with their mandates. In March, disorderly conditions reached the core financial markets, posing a very real threat to the stability of the financial system — by far the most serious threat since the global financial crisis. Underlying this disorder in markets was an economic downturn almost unprecedented ...