Japan’s economy grows by 1.0% between January and March compared with the previous three months, official figures show.

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Rebuilding spurs Japan economy

Several members of the Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee said they would consider expanding efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy if threats to the recovery worsen, according to minutes of the panel’s April meeting. Read full article > >

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Fed officials open to more efforts to stimulate economy if recovery worsens

IT’S NOT OFTEN that a senior political figure announces an intention to behave irresponsibly and risk inflicting great harm on the U.S. economy. It’s even rarer that the politician, having already behaved irresponsibly and inflicted harm on the U.S. economy, announces his intention to do so again. Read full article > >

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Editorial Board: Mr. Boehner’s lamentable desire to repeat bad history

The Federal Reserve is worried about the impact on the US economy if government spending is cut sharply, minutes of its April meeting show.

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Fed wary of any US spending cuts

Top world leaders will gather in Camp David on Friday as they confront renewed financial tensions in Europe for the first time since the euro region put in place extraordinary measures meant to combat its problems. Read full article > >

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As G-8 world leaders head to Camp David, a test looms for the euro zone

Skechers agreed to pay $40 million to settle charges that the company made unsupported claims about the benefits of its toning shoes, falsely asserting that they help people lose weight, tone their lower bodies and even combat heart disease. Read full article > >

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Skechers to pay $40 million to settle charges over unsupported claims

Wondering what Facebook’s upcoming initial public offering of stock means for you? The Post’s business editors turned to our investment columnist Barry Ritholtz for some plain talk on the stock sale: I’m a regular Joe investor, should I clear out my piggy bank to buy Facebook shares? Read full article > >

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Facebook’s IPO: What does it mean for you?

A class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday against JPMorgan Chase on behalf of investors accusing the bank of misleading shareholders about the $2 billion in trading losses that have roiled the company this week. Read full article > >

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JPMorgan Chase hit with class-action lawsuit over $2B in trading losses

Washington braced Tuesday for a replay of last summer’s tense battle over the burgeoning national debt as House Speaker John A. Boehner threatened again to block an increase in the federal debt ceiling without significant new cuts in spending. Read full article > >

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Boehner threatens another debt-ceiling fight

As we’ve discussed before , the number of Americans in the labor force — that is, the people who either have jobs or are actively looking for work — has been dwindling in recent years. Some of that’s been due to ordinary demographics: America’s getting older and more people are retiring. Some of it’s been due to the grim economy, which has dissuaded many people from even bothering to look for jobs. Read full article > >

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Will America’s labor-force dropouts ever come back?

Defense contractors have slowed hiring. Tax advisers are warning firms not to count on favorite breaks. And hospitals are scouring their books for ways to cut costs. Across the U.S. economy, anxiety is rising about the potential for widespread disruptions after the November election, when a lame-duck Congress will have barely two months to resolve a grinding standoff over taxes and spending. Read full article > >

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Taxmageddon sparks rising anxiety

Another milestone they count down in Times Square, less deliriously, is the moment a company goes public by selling shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Thursday, May 3, at 9:29:50 a.m., it’s the turn of the Carlyle Group , Washington’s semi-mythic private-equity leviathan, the capital’s most fabled generator of cash, conspiracy theories and conspicuous philanthropy. Read full article > >

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David Rubenstein, co-founder of Carlyle Group and Washington philanthropist

According to Best Lawyers — “the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession” — Emmet Bondurant “is the go-to lawyer when a business person just can’t afford to lose a lawsuit.” He was its 2010 Lawyer of the Year for Antitrust and Bet-the-Company Litigation. But now, he’s bitten off something even bigger: bet-the-country litigation. Read full article > >

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Ezra Klein: Is the filibuster unconstitutional?

Political deadlock in Greece on Monday stoked a renewed sense of crisis about the fate of the European economy as new data confirmed a downturn in one of the world’s major trading blocks. The immediate focus was on the inability of Greek politicians to form a new government after divided elections last week — raising the possibility that the country may yet reject a recent international bailout agreement and leave the euro currency union. Read full article > >

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Greek deadlock heightens fears of full European crisis

ALBURQUERQUE, Spain— When officials in Madrid slashed support for alternative-energy programs this year as part of the campaign of government austerity sweeping Europe, ripples quickly hit this rural town with the cancellation of plans for a solar energy plant. Read full article > >

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European austerity bites deep into Spain