Business News at a Glance

Turkey’s Economy Is So Hot That It May Face a Meltdown

In a global economy increasingly plagued by worries Turkey may present the most immediate cause for alarm. The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has wielded his influence to deliver relentless economic growth through unrestrained borrowing. Now, in a conspicuous sign of unease among global investors, the value of Turkey’s currency, the lira, has plunged by roughly one-fifth this year. It dropped more Monday, as Erdogan handed the job of economic chief to his son-in-law, in what markets construed as a sign that he does not intend to adopt a more responsible mode of stewardship anytime soon.

From Fish to Handbags: U.S. Threatens Tariffs on $200 Billion of Chinese Goods

The Trump administration escalated its trade dispute with China on Tuesday, saying it would impose tariffs on roughly $200 billion worth of Chinese fish, petroleum, chemicals, handbags, textiles and other products if China does not change its trade practices. The threat comes just days after President Donald Trump fired the first shot in the trade war by imposing levies on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods. The announcement is a significant escalation in the trade dispute between China and the United States — neither of which appears eager to blink first.

Facebook Is Fined by British Agency Over Cambridge Analytica Data Leak

Facebook was hit with the maximum possible fine in Britain for allowing the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to harvest the information of millions of people without their consent. The fine of 500,000 pounds (about $660,000) represents a tiny sum for Facebook. But it is the largest fine that can be levied by the British Information Commissioner’s Office. The agency said it had concluded that “Facebook contravened the law by failing to safeguard people’s information. It also found that the company failed to be transparent about how people’s data was harvested by others.”

A Tech Guru Captivated Canada. Then He Fled to China.

Sun Yian was living the Canadian dream. The Chinese immigrant found fortune harnessing Canadian talent to develop cutting-edge technology, everything from semiconductors to facial recognition, to take back to China. His company grew to more than 1,500 employees across China and North America. Then Sun stopped paying his Canadian workers and fled to China. Left behind are lawsuits from angry investors and Canadian employees who are wondering whether their work could be used to help China’s growing domestic surveillance state.

Cisco Chief Executive’s New Mantra: Simplify Computer Networks

Over more than three decades, Cisco Systems became a Silicon Valley giant partly because of one facet of its business: technological complexity. But that pattern can’t go on, according to Chuck Robbins, Cisco’s chief executive, who took over the company in 2015. At Cisco’s annual technology conference in Orlando, Florida, last month, he declared that technical shifts were affecting how all companies used the internet, forcing Cisco to rewrite its product playbook. The networks that we build we’re going to have to think about fundamentally differently,” Robbins, 52, told attendees.

Tesla to Build China Plant With Goal of Producing 500,000 Cars a Year

Still scrambling to sort out production problems at its electric car factory in California, Tesla is taking on another big challenge: building a vast new plant and development center in China. The automaker said Tuesday it had reached an agreement with Chinese authorities to build a battery and automobile factory in Shanghai — its first plant outside the United States — that would eventually be capable of producing 500,000 electric vehicles a year. The company did not disclose how much it planned to invest in the venture, but it said it would be the sole owner.