[wpietri]

This is a "leader", which is the British name for an opinion piece. Its job is not to explain the news to you. As with most newspaper opinion pieces, it's a reaction to something in the news that you are expected to know about, or at least be able to look up.

As a subscriber, I think this is how it should be. There have been a zillion articles about this FTC action going back at least to June. Part of what I value about The Economist is its pithy, punchy writing and its assumption of a competent, numerically literate audience. Having to spoon-feed the basics in every leader would be tedious both for them and for its subscribers.