Bloomberg Yum! Brands Inc said it’s suspending its share repurchase program and working to assist some franchisees as the coronavirus outbreak erodes sales. The owner of the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands said in a filing that comparable-store sales — a key measure for restaurant companies — will likely decline in a range of mid to high single ...

What’s missing is confidence. Anyone who claims to know how this economic collapse will end is either lying or woefully overconfident. But whatever the prospects, they would be better if consumers, business leaders and investors were more optimistic. The economy’s performance is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. Optimism breeds optimism, and pessimism breeds pessimism. The best we can do as forecasters ...

Just two days after the French government’s lockdown went into effect, the bakery in my village outside Paris started rationing baguettes. The limit of five per family per day is still a lot of bread, but it is disconcerting that anyone is trying to stockpile the most perishable of loafs. I can’t judge them, however. Although I haven’t been panic-buying, ...