With recession anxieties climbing, people are increasingly worried about the Federal Reserve’s capacity to respond. I take issue with the premise: I don’t expect a recession this year, and when one does come I think it will be mild enough for the Fed to handle. Three factors seems to be driving recession fears. First, recent data — such as weak ...

European leaders have placed a lot of faith in Theresa May’s ability to get her Brexit deal through an increasingly fractious UK parliament. That optimism looks increasingly misplaced after British lawmakers rejected her plan three times. MPs are now preparing for yet another attempt at sketching out what flavour of Brexit they would prefer: Staying in the customs union, staying ...

Hennes & Mauritz AB is a model retailer, but its pile of unsold clothes has been obscuring that fact. Last week, there were the first signs of that changing. The company reported first quarter pre-tax profit that significantly beat the consensus of analysts’ expectations. Sales rose 10 percent in local currencies in the three months to February 28, and were ...