Business | Schumpeter

What do Joe Biden and the boss of Starbucks have in common?

Both are grappling with gloomy consumers at home and trouble abroad

An illustration of a windswept figure resembling Laxman Narasimhan, reminiscent of the Starbucks siren logo. The figure has two fish tails and is depicted fighting waves with two spoons, resembling oars, in a 17th-century coffee cup.
Illustration: Brett Ryder

IN Thomas Babington Macaulay’s “History of England”, the bustling coffeehouses of the 17th century were “the chief organs through which the public opinion of the metropolis vented itself”. But what happens when the metropolis stays away? Laxman Narasimhan, boss of Starbucks, the world’s mightiest coffee chain, is finding out the hard way.

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This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Grande strategy”

From the May 18th 2024 edition

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