Business and Economic News

The Fed's announcement of a steep rate cut signaled its growing concern that the coronavirus, which is depressing economic activity across the world, poses an escalating threat and could trigger a recession. Yet even before the Fed's action Tuesday, economists had been cautioning that lower interest rates aren't the ideal prescription for the threat posed by the coronavirus.
In a first, architecture's most prestigious prize is awarded to two women
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara founded Grafton Architects in Dublin in 1978. The Pritzker Architecture Prize jury called the two Irish architects "beacons" in a male-dominated field.
Groups disagree over sales of stronger beer in convenience stores
Minnesota is the only state in the nation restricting businesses including grocery stores, convenience stores and gas stations to selling only 3.2 beer.
Jack Welch, legendary CEO of General Electric, dead At 84
Welch, dubbed "manager of the century" in 1999 by Fortune magazine, grew GE into an industrial powerhouse. During his reign, the company's market value skyrocketed to $410 billion from $12 billion.
World economy may shrink because of virus, watchdog says
A global agency says the spreading new virus could make the world economy shrink this quarter for the first time since the international financial crisis more than a decade ago.
Joe Coulombe, founder of popular Trader Joe’s markets, dies at 89
From the time he opened his first store in Pasadena, Calif., in 1967 until his death Friday at age 89, Joe Coulombe watched his namesake business rise from a cult favorite of educated but underpaid young people — and a few hippies — to a retail giant with more than 500 outlets in over 40 states.
Stocks in free fall again, as the coronavirus tightens grip
All of the major indexes are now in what the markets call a correction, and stocks also were down in Asia and Europe.
Amid global coronavirus outbreak, Cargill halts employees' international travel
Cargill, the international agricultural company based in Wayzata, on Thursday said it is banning all nonessential international travel for its employees in response to the novel coronavirus. The company has around 160,000 employees worldwide.