The Federal Reserve finally succumbed to rising pressure from financial markets that have been roiled by the widening coronavirus crisis with its pledge to “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion.” Despite repeated denials that it was too early to consider a policy shift, the Fed eventually recognised that they couldn’t let markets slide day after day without a firm ...

The biggest coronavirus risk to retailers on both sides of the Atlantic may turn out to be empty stores, rather than empty shelves. As the outbreak has spread from Asia to Europe and the US, concern has shifted from the impact on supply chains because of closed Chinese factories to the potential of the deadly disease to put a sudden ...

If the quantum of public spending alone decided the seriousness with which small, open Asian economies are fighting the coronavirus, then Hong Kong’s HK$120 billion ($15.4 billion) package ought to be three times punchier than rival Singapore’s. When it comes to the quality of expenditure and the financing, though, Hong Kong’s plan seems to be less about protecting lives and ...