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By Agnes Crane
New Jersey’s Republican governor faces a Sandy-related revenue hit that will make it hard to balance the budget, as mandated. Deeper cuts to services or even a tax hike may be needed. Christie gets his chance to show the president he opposes how leadership and compromise work.

HSBC still aiming at its moving targets

By Peter Thal Larsen
The emerging market bank’s costs are still above CEO Stuart Gulliver’s goal, and returns still below. One-off charges for UK mis-selling and U.S. money-laundering are partly to blame. But if these prove a recurring cost of doing business, HSBC’s targets may need adjusting.

Chinese reforms could trigger domino effect

By John Foley
To sustain growth and make citizens happier, new leaders must tackle three big challenges: financial efficiency, innovation and the environment. But each policy tweak depends partly on others. As before in China’s history, success is based not on intent, but on political capital.

There's something rotten with U.S. labor picture

By Martin Hutchinson
Friday’s employment report was relatively OK, and good for Obama, with 171,000 job gains. But 32 months from the bottom and only half of lost jobs have been recovered. What’s clear is that each recession is becoming harder than the last, hinting at larger structural problems.

Bank of England probes avoid elephant in room

By Hugo Dixon
The central bank’s reviews into its performance are fine as far as they go. But they weren’t asked to look at the BoE’s culture - particularly, whether it is too hierarchical - and so barely address the topic. The next governor should launch a full cultural audit

Japan risks consumer electronics death spiral

By Peter Thal Larsen
Panasonic, Sony and Sharp all suffered slumping demand for consumer gadgets. Though the economy is partly to blame, so are successful rivals like Apple and Samsung. The temptation may be to cut product development spending, but that could leave the trio ever further behind.

Apple means (almost) never having to say sorry

By Reynolds Holding
The tech giant apologized for a flawed maps app. But it resisted a UK court order to admit that Samsung hadn’t infringed on the iPad. Now the judges are demanding strict compliance. CEO Tim Cook, it appears, has as little appetite for humble pie as his predecessor Steve Jobs.
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