Central bank watchers will readily agree that the policy meeting this week marked the formal end of the first attempt by Chair Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve to lead markets rather than succumb to their will. What they are less likely to agree on are the major reasons for the shift, and it is the answer to this latter question that ...

Samsung Electronics company’s fourth-quarter earnings tell a tale of falling demand for technology products and components. Revenue dropped 10 percent – the most in almost four years – with operating profit down 29 percent, the worst decline since 2016. Chips were the major reason for the weakness, the South Korean company told investors. Fourth quarter earnings of the company were ...

The European Union’s governments are encouraging the European Commission to weaken its antitrust standards to promote “continental champions.” Europe, they say, needs larger companies to compete on an equal footing with US and Chinese giants. This idea is a mistake, and it rests on an economic fallacy. Big firms aren’t necessarily more efficient than smaller ones, especially when they’re big ...