Few words are more overused in our debates than “crisis”. We have many — the education crisis, the inequality crisis and the environmental crisis, to name just a few. The word suggests an impending calamity unless we take instant action. The reality is that most crises are not calamities. They’re stubborn problems that, for one reason or another, defy a ...

Just six weeks ago, Chairman Masayoshi Son was crowing about the value of SoftBank Group Corp and brushing off the notion that he should sell his prized stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd after a terrible quarter and massive asset writedowns. Things change. In a surprise announcement on March 23, the Japanese conglomerate said it plans to peddle or monetise ...

Lockdowns imposed to control the coronavirus have battered China’s appetite for everything from coal to copper, pushing stockpiles of raw materials higher and global prices lower. The next crunch could come from supply. The risk of an outbreak is growing in ill-prepared producer countries, with mandatory quarantines and border shutdowns threatening to choke off production. Prices of bulk commodities are ...