Walmart Inc, one of the few big winners during the coronavirus crisis, just had a blowout quarter. The knock-on positive effects may last beyond the pandemic. Bulk buying of toilet paper, bleach and hand sanitiser helped the world’s biggest retailer increase US same-store sales (excluding fuel) by a better-than-expected 10% in the three months ended on May 1. That marked ...

After the world has finally worked its way beyond the Covid-19 crisis, it may have to confront a danger that almost everybody has forgotten: higher inflation. At the moment, it’s the last thing investors and governments are worried about, which is exactly what makes the threat so plausible. It has been decades since governments have lost sleep over high inflation. ...

At one level, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s decision to fire the department’s inspector general tells us nothing we didn’t already know. Even before Pompeo enabled the smearing and sidelining of US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch last year, he had made it clear that he would tolerate political attacks and even retaliation against members of the US foreign service. ...