News

Just how frothy is America’s stockmarket?


Date : Sunday December 22, 2024We crunch the numbers to assess just how euphoric investors became in 2024 ...

Don’t count on monetary policy to make housing affordable


Date : Thursday December 19, 2024Unless housebuilding picks up, neither cheap nor dear money will bring relief ...

Why Brazil’s currency is plunging


Date : Thursday December 19, 2024Fiscal and monetary policy are now pitted against one another ...

The search for the world’s most efficient charities


Date : Thursday December 19, 2024What the data say about doing good well ...

Conflict is remaking the Middle East’s economic order


Date : Thursday December 19, 2024Iran is boxed in as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey look to capitalise ...

Ukraine is winning the economic war against Russia


Date : Wednesday December 18, 2024Whether that lasts depends on its ability to overcome acute shortages of power, men and money ...

The World Bank is struggling to serve all 78 poor countries


Date : Thursday December 12, 2024Bangladesh and Niger are very different places ...

The Federal Reserve takes on Trump—and stubborn inflation


Date : Thursday December 12, 2024Time for Jerome Powell to enter the octagon ...

What a censored speech says about China’s economy


Date : Thursday December 12, 2024If growth is on target, why is inflation so low? ...

Bitcoin is up by 138% this year. It is a nonsense-free rally


Date : Thursday December 12, 2024The link between digital assets and mainstream finance is strengthening ...

Which economy did best in 2024?


Date : Tuesday December 10, 2024We rank countries on five measures ...

Are adults forgetting how to read?


Date : Tuesday December 10, 2024A survey by the OECD suggests so ...

How much oil can Trump pump?


Date : Monday December 09, 2024The president-elect wants to be the ultimate energy baron ...

The hidden cost of Chinese loans


Date : Thursday December 05, 2024Governments that borrow from China must pay more to borrow from others ...

Xi Jinping’s campaign against gambling is a failure


Date : Thursday December 05, 2024Chinese citizens go to great lengths to bet ...

How sports gambling became ubiquitous


Date : Thursday December 05, 2024Europe is at the centre of the industry’s growth ...

Cronyism is a problem. But not always an economic one


Date : Thursday December 05, 2024Research on the topic is surprisingly nuanced ...

France is not alone in its fiscal woes


Date : Thursday December 05, 2024Deficits look worryingly wide across Europe ...

MAGA types have a point on debanking


Date : Thursday December 05, 2024A booming compliance industry is causing problems ...

How China will strike back at Trump


Date : Sunday December 01, 2024Xi Jinping has set out his tariff red lines. What if America crosses them? ...

Russia’s plunging currency spells trouble for its war effort


Date : Sunday December 01, 2024Supplies from China are about to become more expensive ...

The great-man theory of Wall Street


Date : Thursday November 28, 2024Why finance is still dominated by bold individuals ...

Hong Kong’s property slump may be terminal


Date : Thursday November 28, 2024Demographics and geopolitics will make a recovery harder ...

Why everyone wants to lend to weak companies


Date : Thursday November 28, 2024An unanticipated side-effect of Donald Trump’s election victory ...

American veterans now receive absurdly generous benefits


Date : Thursday November 28, 2024An enormous rise in disability payments may complicate debt-reduction efforts ...

Why Black Friday sales grow more annoying every year


Date : Thursday November 28, 2024Nobody is to blame. Everyone suffers ...

Trump wastes no time in reigniting trade wars


Date : Tuesday November 26, 2024Canada and Mexico look likely to suffer ...

How Trump, Starmer and Macron can avoid a debt crunch


Date : Sunday November 24, 2024With deficits soaring, their finance ministers will have to be smart ...

What Scott Bessent’s appointment means for the Trump administration


Date : Saturday November 23, 2024The president-elect’s nominee for treasury secretary faces a gruelling job ...

What Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders get wrong about credit cards


Date : Thursday November 21, 2024Forget interest rates. Rewards are the real problem ...

Computers unleashed economic growth. Will artificial intelligence?


Date : Thursday November 21, 2024Two years after ChatGPT-3.5 arrived, progress has been slower than expected ...

Should investors just give up on stocks outside America?


Date : Thursday November 21, 2024No, but it is getting a lot harder to keep the faith ...

Is China really a nation of slackers?


Date : Thursday November 21, 2024A new survey raises the question ...

Donald Trump’s gas war is about to begin


Date : Thursday November 21, 2024It could annoy some of his most loyal supporters ...

Our Big Mac index shows how burger prices differ across borders


Date : Wednesday November 20, 2024Using patty-power parity to think about exchange rates ...

Vladimir Putin is in a painful economic bind


Date : Monday November 18, 2024Russia’s reliance on China is becoming a problem ...

How to make Elon Musk’s budget-slashing dreams come true


Date : Sunday November 17, 2024We offer some suggestions ...

Economists need new indicators of economic misery


Date : Thursday November 14, 2024Existing measures of discomfort are failing to predict elections ...

Why financial markets are so oddly calm


Date : Thursday November 14, 2024Indicators of market volatility have plunged ...

How to pay for the poor world to go green


Date : Thursday November 14, 2024Rich countries need not reinvent the wheel ...

The biggest losers from Trumponomics


Date : Thursday November 14, 2024America’s president-elect wants to reshape trade, capital and labour flows ...

What does America’s next treasury secretary believe?


Date : Tuesday November 12, 2024We take a look at the leading contenders for the job ...

Why crypto mania is reaching new heights


Date : Tuesday November 12, 2024Are bitcoin bros right to be so thrilled by Donald Trump’s victory? ...

America’s strengthening dollar will rattle the rest of the world


Date : Sunday November 10, 2024Donald Trump’s policies could send the greenback soaring ...

What betting markets got right and wrong about Trump’s victory


Date : Thursday November 07, 2024They might have simply been lucky, or biased ...

Big Macs, strawberry jam and the wealth of nations


Date : Thursday November 07, 2024Alan Heston, a pioneer in comparing economies, died on October 25th ...

India is undergoing an astonishing stockmarket revolution


Date : Thursday November 07, 2024Small investors, rejoice—and beware ...

Barbarians on the porch


Date : Thursday November 07, 2024Private markets are going mainstream ...

Sanctions are sinking Russia’s flagship gas project


Date : Thursday November 07, 2024Whether that lasts is up to Donald Trump ...

The return of Trumponomics excites markets but frightens the world


Date : Wednesday November 06, 2024It may bring stronger growth, higher inflation and a global trade war ...

Why investors’ “Trump trade” might be flawed


Date : Sunday November 03, 2024Markets are betting Trump 2.0 would boost the dollar. It could fall instead ...

Greenland faces one of history’s great resource rushes—and curses


Date : Thursday October 31, 2024The territory sits on an astounding number of critical minerals ...

Ireland’s government has an unusual problem: too much money


Date : Thursday October 31, 2024A tax windfall has added to already overflowing coffers ...

American men are getting back to work


Date : Thursday October 31, 2024The ultra-gloomy picture painted by politicians is no longer accurate ...

Why China needs to fill its empty homes


Date : Thursday October 31, 2024The country’s economy is broken. A recovery requires a healthier property market ...

Sin taxes are suffering from a shortage of sinners


Date : Thursday October 31, 2024Governments across the rich world are looking for alternatives ...

Will bond vigilantes come for America’s next president?


Date : Wednesday October 30, 2024Treasury yields are rising ominously ...

Donald Trump would leave Asia with only bad options


Date : Wednesday October 30, 2024The continent’s policymakers are too relaxed about the risks ...

America’s glorious economy should help Kamala Harris


Date : Sunday October 27, 2024Voters are starting to notice the good news just in time for the election ...

The economics of thinness (Ozempic edition)


Date : Thursday October 24, 2024Will skinny still be desirable when it is more easily achieved by the masses? ...

Investors should not fear a stockmarket crash


Date : Thursday October 24, 2024Take a long view, and shares are a lot less risky than many realise ...

How bad are video games for your grades?


Date : Thursday October 24, 2024Chinese students provide an answer ...

What the surging price of gold says about a dangerous world


Date : Tuesday October 22, 2024Financial fears and geopolitical tremors combine to great effect ...

Hizbullah’s sprawling financial empire looks newly vulnerable


Date : Monday October 21, 2024Why Israel is now bombing Lebanese banks ...

The West faces new inflation fears


Date : Sunday October 20, 2024Having moved in lockstep, America and Europe now have very different concerns ...

Trump’s trillion-dollar tax cuts are spiralling out of control


Date : Thursday October 17, 2024His zany promises would blow up the deficit ...

Inside the secret oil trade that funds Iran’s wars


Date : Thursday October 17, 2024An investigation by The Economist uncovers a multi-billion-dollar, America-defying network ...

Germany’s economy goes from bad to worse


Date : Tuesday October 15, 2024Things may look brighter next year, but the relief will be short-lived ...

An economics Nobel for work on why nations succeed and fail


Date : Monday October 14, 2024Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson tackled the most important question of all ...

Why investors should still avoid Chinese stocks


Date : Monday October 14, 2024The debate about “uninvestability” obscures something important ...

China’s property crisis claims more victims: companies


Date : Thursday October 10, 2024Unsold homes are contributing to a balance-sheet recession ...

Europe’s green trade restrictions are infuriating poor countries


Date : Thursday October 10, 2024Only the poorest can expect help to cushion the blow ...

How America learned to love tariffs


Date : Thursday October 10, 2024Protectionism hasn’t been this respectable for decades ...

Why have markets grown more captivated by data releases?


Date : Thursday October 10, 2024Especially when the quality of statistics is deteriorating ...

Can the world’s most influential business index be fixed?


Date : Thursday October 10, 2024Two cheers for the World Bank’s new global business survey ...

Can markets reduce pollution in India?


Date : Thursday October 10, 2024An experiment in Gujarat yields impressive results ...

Could war in the Gulf push oil to $100 a barrel?


Date : Monday October 07, 2024Missiles are flying over a region that supplies a third of the world’s crude ...

How bond investors soured on France


Date : Sunday October 06, 2024They now regard the euro zone’s second-largest economy as riskier than Spain ...

Can Andrea Orcel, Europe’s star banker, create a super-bank?


Date : Thursday October 03, 2024An interview with the boss of UniCredit ...

Why economic warfare nearly always misses its target


Date : Thursday October 03, 2024There is no such thing as a strategic commodity ...

A tonne of public debt is never made public


Date : Thursday October 03, 2024New research suggests governments routinely hide their borrowing ...

Xi Jinping’s belated stimulus has reset the mood in Chinese markets


Date : Wednesday October 02, 2024But can the buying frenzy last? ...

The house-price supercycle is just getting going


Date : Tuesday October 01, 2024Why property prices could keep rising for years ...

Why is Canada’s economy falling behind America’s?


Date : Monday September 30, 2024The country was slightly richer than Montana in 2019. Now it is just poorer than Alabama ...

At last, China pulls the trigger on a bold stimulus package


Date : Friday September 27, 2024“Buy everything,” says an American hedge fund ...

Why the Federal Reserve is split on the future of interest rates


Date : Thursday September 26, 2024Jerome Powell began with a big cut. What comes next? ...

A Wall Street state of mind has captured America


Date : Thursday September 26, 2024Downtown New York is quieter than ever. Finance has never been louder ...

Is the world sleepwalking into another gas crisis?


Date : Thursday September 26, 2024Prices could once again spike this winter ...

How lower American interest rates will boost Africa


Date : Thursday September 26, 2024One of the world’s worst-named financial instruments is newly relevant ...

Can Israel’s economy survive an all-out war with Hizbullah?


Date : Tuesday September 24, 2024The country’s banks are experiencing capital flight ...

China’s central bank tries to save the economy—and the stockmarket


Date : Tuesday September 24, 2024But it will need more help from the government ...

Governments are bigger than ever. They are also more useless


Date : Monday September 23, 2024Why voters across the rich world are miserable ...

The world’s poorest countries have experienced a brutal decade


Date : Thursday September 19, 2024Why has development ground to a halt? ...

European regulators are about to become more political


Date : Thursday September 19, 2024That will worry many in Silicon Valley ...

What the history of money tells you about crypto’s future


Date : Thursday September 19, 2024The thread from shipwrecks and sheep flocks to digital currencies ...

Why the Federal Reserve has gambled on a big interest-rate cut


Date : Wednesday September 18, 2024The bold move carries economic and political risks ...

The Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts may disappoint investors


Date : Monday September 16, 2024Jerome Powell could still surprise on the hawkish side ...

How China’s communists fell in love with privatisation


Date : Sunday September 15, 2024Even though they are not very good at it ...

Norway’s weak currency presents a mystery


Date : Thursday September 12, 2024The country’s economy is thriving yet the krone is becoming less and less valuable. What’s going on? ...

An American sovereign-wealth fund is a risky idea


Date : Thursday September 12, 2024Donald Trump’s latest proposal has worryingly broad support ...

Can bonds keep beating stocks?


Date : Thursday September 12, 2024After a terrible couple of months for shareholders, lenders are feeling smug ...

Why orange juice has never been more expensive


Date : Thursday September 12, 2024Pity those who rely on the breakfast staple ...

The IMF has a protest problem


Date : Thursday September 12, 2024Does it give up—or insist on painful reforms? ...

China’s government is surprisingly redistributive


Date : Thursday September 12, 2024That is despite a stingy tax-and-transfer system ...

Strangely, America’s companies will soon face higher interest rates


Date : Wednesday September 11, 2024Even though the Federal Reserve is about to loosen monetary policy ...

Can anything spark Europe’s economy back to life?


Date : Monday September 09, 2024Mario Draghi, the continent’s unofficial chief technocrat, has a plan ...

Has social media broken the stockmarket?


Date : Thursday September 05, 2024That is the contention of Cliff Asness, one of the great quant investors ...

American office delinquencies are shooting up


Date : Thursday September 05, 2024How worried should investors be? ...

China is suffering from a crisis of confidence


Date : Thursday September 05, 2024Can anything perk up its economy? ...

America has a huge deficit. Which candidate would make it worse?


Date : Thursday September 05, 2024Enough policies have been proposed to make a call ...

Why Oasis fans should welcome price-gouging


Date : Thursday September 05, 2024There are worse things in life than paying a fair price ...

As stock prices fall, investors prepare for an autumn chill


Date : Wednesday September 04, 2024Markets are in a very different place from earlier in the year ...

Will interest-rate cuts turbocharge oil prices?


Date : Monday September 02, 2024As policymakers prepare to ease policy, traders (and presidential candidates) hold their breath ...

Can Japan’s zombie bond market be brought back to life?


Date : Thursday August 29, 2024Ueda Kazuo begins on a dangerous mission ...

The plasma trade is becoming ever-more hypocritical


Date : Thursday August 29, 2024Reliance on America grows, as other countries clutch their pearls ...

Are American rents rigged by algorithms?


Date : Thursday August 29, 2024That is what Department of Justice prosecutors allege ...

Inflation is down and a recession is unlikely. What went right?


Date : Thursday August 29, 2024A few years ago, nobody thought that a soft landing was possible ...

How Vladimir Putin hopes to transform Russian trade


Date : Wednesday August 28, 2024He believes the country’s future lies with China and India. What could go wrong? ...

Vast government debts are riskier than they appear


Date : Tuesday August 27, 2024A provocative new paper gets central bankers talking at Jackson Hole ...

Jerome Powell (almost) declares victory over inflation


Date : Friday August 23, 2024The Federal Reserve chairman strikes a notably doveish tone ...

Investors should avoid a new generation of rip-off ETFs


Date : Thursday August 22, 2024Some proposals may even be a risk to financial stability ...

Why investors are not buying Europe’s revival


Date : Thursday August 22, 2024Even though the continent’s stocks are in a “sweet spot” ...

America’s recession signals are flashing red. Don’t believe them


Date : Thursday August 22, 2024We assess a range of measures ...

America’s anti-price-gouging laws are too minor to be communist


Date : Thursday August 22, 2024No matter what critics of Kamala Harris allege ...

Why don’t women use artificial intelligence?


Date : Wednesday August 21, 2024Even when in the same jobs, men are much more likely to turn to the tech ...

Kamala Harris’s cost-of-living plan will end in failure


Date : Tuesday August 20, 2024She is the latest presidential candidate to embrace self-defeating economics ...

Artificial intelligence is losing hype


Date : Monday August 19, 2024For some, that is proof the tech will in time succeed. Are they right? ...

Europe’s economic growth is extremely fragile


Date : Thursday August 15, 2024Risk is concentrated in one country: Germany ...

How vulnerable is Israel to sanctions?


Date : Thursday August 15, 2024So far, measures have had little effect. That could change ...

Why companies get inflation wrong


Date : Thursday August 15, 2024Bosses should pay less attention to the media ...

What is behind China’s perplexing bond-market intervention?


Date : Wednesday August 14, 2024The central bank seems to think the government’s debt is too popular ...

How to invest in chaotic markets


Date : Tuesday August 13, 2024Contrary to popular wisdom, even retail investors should pay attention to volatility ...

Vladimir Putin spends big—and sends Russia’s economy soaring


Date : Sunday August 11, 2024How long can the party last? ...

Africa’s two most populous economies brave tough reforms


Date : Thursday August 08, 2024Will Ethiopia and Nigeria be able to stick to them? ...

Should central bankers argue in public?


Date : Thursday August 08, 2024Division is not always a weakness ...

Why Warren Buffett has built a mighty cash mountain


Date : Thursday August 08, 2024Berkshire Hathaway’s boss is an impressive investor, not an economic oracle ...

How Chinese shoppers downgraded their ambition


Date : Thursday August 08, 2024The trend will dismay the country’s policymakers ...

A global recession is not in prospect


Date : Wednesday August 07, 2024That will be a relief to investors everywhere ...

The Big Mac index: where to buy a cheap hamburger


Date : Wednesday August 07, 2024Meat-eaters may want to avoid Argentina ...

The stockmarket rout may not be over


Date : Tuesday August 06, 2024As investors pause for breath, we assess what could turn a correction into a crash ...

Why Japanese stocks are on a rollercoaster ride


Date : Tuesday August 06, 2024Volatility in global markets continues ...

Why Japanese markets have plummeted


Date : Monday August 05, 2024The global rout continues, with the Topix experiencing its worst day since 1987 ...

Why fear is sweeping markets everywhere


Date : Friday August 02, 2024American and Japanese indices have taken a battering. So have banks and gold ...

India’s economic policy will not make it rich


Date : Thursday August 01, 2024A new World Bank report takes aim at emerging-market growth plans ...

Wanted: new business, finance and economics interns


Date : Thursday August 01, 2024The Economist invites applications for the 2024-25 Marjorie Deane internship ...

Which cities have the worst overtourism problem?


Date : Thursday August 01, 2024We rank popular destinations on two measures ...

Gary Gensler is the most controversial man in American finance


Date : Thursday August 01, 2024Donald Trump is just the latest to take a swing. In an interview with The Economist, the SEC chair defends his record ...

EU handouts have long been wasteful. Now they must be fixed


Date : Thursday August 01, 2024New research highlights their failures ...

Investors beware: summer madness is here


Date : Thursday August 01, 2024This year’s hottest months are shaping up to be especially wild ...

China’s last boomtowns show rapid growth is still possible


Date : Tuesday July 30, 2024All it takes is for the state to work with the market ...

What the war on tourism gets wrong


Date : Monday July 29, 2024Visitors are a boon, if managed wisely ...

Why investors are unwise to bet on elections


Date : Thursday July 25, 2024Turning a profit from political news is a lot harder than it looks ...

Revisiting the work of Donald Harris, father of Kamala


Date : Thursday July 25, 2024The combative Marxist economist focused on questions related to growth ...

Donald Trump wants a weaker dollar. What are his options?


Date : Thursday July 25, 2024All come with their own drawbacks ...

Why is Xi Jinping building secret commodity stockpiles?


Date : Tuesday July 23, 2024Vast new holdings of grain, natural gas and oil suggest trouble ahead ...

How Vladimir Putin created a housing bubble


Date : Monday July 22, 2024Prices have risen by 172% in Russia’s biggest cities over the past three years ...

The rich world revolts against sky-high immigration


Date : Sunday July 21, 2024Moderates want to limit numbers. Radicals want mass deportations. What will be the economic consequence? ...

Japan’s strength produces a weak yen


Date : Thursday July 18, 2024Currency meddling will prove futile ...

At last, Wall Street has something to cheer


Date : Thursday July 18, 2024Consumer banks, on the other hand, are starting to suffer ...

Americans are wrong to wish for an era of stable bipartisanship


Date : Thursday July 18, 2024Even though political instability is an economic threat ...

Why investors have fallen in love with small American firms


Date : Thursday July 18, 2024The Russell 2000 puts in a historic performance ...

YIMBY cities show how to build homes and contain rents


Date : Wednesday July 17, 2024But to take full advantage of deregulation, Austin and Auckland need other changes ...

Stocks are on an astonishing run. Yet threats lurk


Date : Tuesday July 16, 2024We assess what could bring the bull market to an end ...

China’s leaders face miserable economic-growth figures


Date : Monday July 15, 2024Reality intruded at the “third plenum”, intended to discuss long-term reforms ...

Xi Jinping really is unshakeably committed to the private sector


Date : Thursday July 11, 2024He balances that with being unshakeably committed to state-owned enterprises, too ...

The dangerous rise of pension nationalism


Date : Thursday July 11, 2024Pursuing domestic investment at the expense of returns is reckless ...

Europe prepares for a mighty trade war


Date : Thursday July 11, 2024Will it be able to stick to its rule-abiding principles? ...

Betting markets are useful when politics is chaotic


Date : Thursday July 11, 2024Why, then, are they largely outlawed in America? ...

Trumponomics would not be as bad as most expect


Date : Thursday July 11, 2024Opposition would come from all angles ...

How strongmen abuse tools for fighting financial crime


Date : Tuesday July 09, 2024They can get Western governments and banks to crack down on exiled dissidents ...

Why Chinese banks are now vanishing


Date : Thursday July 04, 2024The state is struggling to deal with troubled institutions ...

How Starbucks caffeinates local economies


Date : Thursday July 04, 2024Call it the frappuccino effect ...

How much cash should be removed from the financial system?


Date : Thursday July 04, 2024Undoing quantitative easing provokes fierce debate ...

America’s banks are more exposed to a downturn than they appear


Date : Thursday July 04, 2024To understand why, consider the ouroboros theory of financial risk ...

What happened to the artificial-intelligence revolution?


Date : Tuesday July 02, 2024So far the technology has had almost no economic impact ...

Ukraine has a month to avoid default


Date : Sunday June 30, 2024Lending to a borrower at war entails an additional gamble: that it will win ...

The economics of the tennis v pickleball contest


Date : Thursday June 27, 2024Don’t hate the new players—or the new game ...

Is coal the new gold?


Date : Thursday June 27, 2024The world’s dirtiest fuel is a disturbingly safe investment ...

How Chinese goods dodge American tariffs


Date : Thursday June 27, 2024Policymakers are unsure what to do about a tricky loophole ...

American stocks are consuming global markets


Date : Thursday June 27, 2024That does not necessarily spell trouble ...

McDonald’s v Burger King: what a price war means for inflation


Date : Wednesday June 26, 2024American consumers will be licking their lips. So will Federal Reserve officials ...

Will services make the world rich?


Date : Monday June 24, 2024American fried chicken can now be served from the Philippines ...

Is America approaching peak tip?


Date : Thursday June 20, 2024The country’s gratuity madness may soon calm, so long as Donald Trump does not get his way ...

America’s rich never sell their assets. How should they be taxed?


Date : Thursday June 20, 2024It is tempting to tax them during their lives. It is wiser to do so after their deaths ...

Indian state capitalism looks to be in trouble


Date : Thursday June 20, 2024A weakened Narendra Modi is bad news for investors in government-controlled firms ...

Europe faces an unusual problem: ultra-cheap energy


Date : Thursday June 20, 2024The continent is failing to adapt to a renewables boom ...

Think Nvidia looks dear? American shares could get pricier still


Date : Wednesday June 19, 2024Investors are willing to follow whichever narrative paints the rosiest picture ...

How bad could things get in France?


Date : Tuesday June 18, 2024The country’s next prime minister faces a brutal fiscal crunch ...

Why house prices are surging once again


Date : Sunday June 16, 2024In America, Australia and parts of Europe, property markets have shrugged off higher interest rates ...

China’s currency is not as influential as once imagined


Date : Thursday June 13, 2024Its share of international reserves has stalled ...

The cracks in America’s ultra-strong labour market


Date : Thursday June 13, 2024With a big discrepancy in jobs data, the economy may be weaker than it seems ...

Rumours of the trade deal’s death are greatly exaggerated


Date : Thursday June 13, 2024Plenty of countries are in a dealmaking rush ...

Does motherhood hurt women’s pay?


Date : Thursday June 13, 2024Two new studies suggest not—at least in the long run, and in Scandinavia ...

Has private credit’s golden age already ended?


Date : Thursday June 13, 2024A more competitive market is a less profitable one ...

Donald Trump’s trade hawk is plotting behind bars


Date : Tuesday June 11, 2024Peter Navarro’s dark vision of the global economy could shape Trump 2 ...

China is distorting its stockmarket by trying to prop it up


Date : Monday June 10, 2024State purchases of shares are bad enough, but other measures are far more destructive ...

Want to avoid woke stockmarket rules? List in Texas


Date : Thursday June 06, 2024The Lone Star State is ready to take on New York ...

European banks are making heady profits in Russia


Date : Thursday June 06, 2024But for how much longer? ...

Why global GDP might be $7trn bigger than everyone thought


Date : Thursday June 06, 2024The discovery has perturbed Chinese officials ...

Should you buy expensive stocks?


Date : Wednesday June 05, 2024A new paper suggests the answer is “yes” ...

Is America’s economy heading for a consumer crunch?


Date : Tuesday June 04, 2024Warning signs have started to appear. But there are reasons for optimism ...

China’s economic model retains a dangerous allure


Date : Monday June 03, 2024Despite the country’s current struggles, autocrats elsewhere see a lot to admire ...

When to sell your stocks


Date : Thursday May 30, 2024Poker provides investors with helpful guidance ...

Young collectors are fuelling a boom in Basquiat-backed loans


Date : Thursday May 30, 2024Auction houses are on a lending spree ...

Xi Jinping’s surprising new source of economic advice


Date : Thursday May 30, 2024What China’s leader may learn from a pair of reform-minded academics ...

Foreign investors are rejecting Indian stocks


Date : Thursday May 30, 2024A roaring economy is not enough to entice them ...

Why any estimate of the cost of climate change will be flawed


Date : Thursday May 30, 2024Temperature fluctuations are unpredictable. Humans are even more so ...

OPEC heavyweights are cheating on their targets


Date : Monday May 27, 2024That is tamping down global oil prices ...

Baby-boomers are loaded. Why are they so stingy?


Date : Sunday May 26, 2024The mystery matters for global economic growth ...

Shrinking populations mean less growth and a more fractious world


Date : Thursday May 23, 2024Politicians must act now to avert the worst ...

Boaz v BlackRock: Whoever wins, closed-end funds lose


Date : Thursday May 23, 2024Farewell to a financial mystery ...

Brazil, India and Mexico are taking on China’s exports


Date : Thursday May 23, 2024To avoid an economic shock, they are pursuing a strange mix of free trade and protectionism ...

How the Chinese state aims to calm the property market


Date : Thursday May 23, 2024Officials appear willing to spend public money on private capitalists ...

Can the rich world escape its baby crisis?


Date : Tuesday May 21, 2024Governments are splurging on handouts to avert catastrophe ...

At long last, Europe’s economy is starting to grow


Date : Monday May 20, 2024Now for the hard part ...

The property firm that could break China’s back


Date : Thursday May 16, 2024If Vanke collapses, so might confidence in the state’s management of the economy ...

Narendra Modi’s flagship growth scheme is off to a sluggish start


Date : Thursday May 16, 2024Without improvements, it risks wasting trillions of rupees ...

Diego Maradona offers central bankers enduring lessons


Date : Thursday May 16, 2024Recent years ought to have reduced the importance of a skilful feint. They have not ...

Joe Biden, master oil trader


Date : Thursday May 16, 2024The president has turned volatility into profit ...

How Jim Simons revolutionised investing


Date : Thursday May 16, 2024The “quant king” pioneered an approach that has become a pillar of finance ...

Biden outdoes Trump with ultra-high China tariffs


Date : Tuesday May 14, 2024The move, which hits electric vehicles, carries an environmental cost ...

America is in the midst of an extraordinary startup boom


Date : Sunday May 12, 2024How the country revived its go-getting spirit ...

Could America and its allies club together to weaken the dollar?


Date : Thursday May 09, 2024China would not be happy ...

Banks, at least, are making money from a turbulent world


Date : Thursday May 09, 2024It is once again a good time to work on a trading desk ...

Against expectations, European banks are thriving


Date : Thursday May 09, 2024Many are now ripe for a takeover ...

Why the global cocoa market is melting down


Date : Thursday May 09, 2024Toblerones could soon become luxury goods ...

What Xi Jinping gets wrong about China’s economy


Date : Thursday May 09, 2024Despite his protestations, the country does have an overcapacity problem ...

What would get China’s consumers spending?


Date : Thursday May 09, 2024Clues from a grocer in a fourth-tier city ...

How Ukrainian farmers are using the cover of war to escape taxes


Date : Tuesday May 07, 2024“Black grain” infuriates exporters playing by the rules ...

What campus protesters get wrong about divestment


Date : Thursday May 02, 2024Will withdrawing money hurt Israel? ...

Hedge funds make billions as India’s options market goes ballistic


Date : Thursday May 02, 2024The country’s retail investors are doing less well ...

Russia’s gas business will never recover from the war in Ukraine


Date : Thursday May 02, 2024Hopes of a Chinese rescue look increasingly vain ...

Working from home and the US-Europe divide


Date : Wednesday May 01, 2024Americans are no longer the rich world’s great office drones ...

Immigration is surging, with big economic consequences


Date : Tuesday April 30, 2024The West faces an unprecedented number of new arrivals ...

Japan will struggle to rescue its plummeting currency


Date : Monday April 29, 2024Expensive government intervention looks likely to provide only brief respite ...

The UAE is using a wealth fund to gain diplomatic sway


Date : Thursday April 25, 2024And to build holiday resorts ...

How far could America’s stockmarket fall?


Date : Thursday April 25, 2024With the prospect of cheaper money receding, shares look unusually vulnerable ...

Chinese authorities are now addicted to traffic fines


Date : Thursday April 25, 2024What that tells you about the country’s economic woes ...

Don’t like your job? Quit for a rival firm


Date : Thursday April 25, 2024Lina Khan hopes to free the American worker ...

Is inflation morally wrong?


Date : Thursday April 25, 2024Workers think so. Economists disagree ...

Why a stronger dollar is dangerous


Date : Tuesday April 23, 2024It sets the stage for a nasty new Trump-China clash, among other things ...

How American politics has infected investing


Date : Sunday April 21, 2024Beware: taking a stand can be expensive ...

Can the IMF solve the poor world’s debt crisis?


Date : Thursday April 18, 2024The fund will freeze out China if that is what it takes to offer relief ...

Frozen Russian assets will soon pay for Ukraine’s war


Date : Thursday April 18, 2024And America now hopes to convince others to make better use of the stash ...

Citigroup, Wall Street’s biggest loser, is at last on the up


Date : Thursday April 18, 2024Jane Fraser’s unexpected success ...

Why the stockmarket is disappearing


Date : Thursday April 18, 2024Large companies such as ByteDance, OpenAI and Stripe are staying private ...

Even without war in the Gulf, pricier petrol is here to stay


Date : Wednesday April 17, 2024Expensive oil could put Donald Trump in the White House ...

Generation Z is unprecedentedly rich


Date : Tuesday April 16, 2024Millennials were poorer at this stage in their lives. So were baby-boomers ...

China’s better economic growth hides reasons to worry


Date : Tuesday April 16, 2024The country’s leaders are too complacent about deflation ...

What China’s central bank and Costco shoppers have in common


Date : Thursday April 11, 2024Hint: it is not a fondness for cryptocurrencies ...

How fast is India’s economy really growing?


Date : Thursday April 11, 2024Statisticians take the country’s figures with a pinch of salt ...

Ukrainian drone strikes are hurting Russia’s oil industry


Date : Thursday April 11, 2024The world’s third-largest producer is now an importer of petrol ...

China’s state is eating the private property market


Date : Thursday April 11, 2024Pity those soon to buy a home ...

When will Americans see those interest-rate cuts?


Date : Wednesday April 10, 2024Following a nasty surprise, some now think they may come only after the presidential election ...

Would America dare to bring down a Chinese bank?


Date : Wednesday April 10, 2024Janet Yellen promises sanctions for those supporting Vladimir Putin’s war ...

The rich world faces a brutal spending crunch


Date : Tuesday April 09, 2024Countries including America, Britain and France are up against remorseless fiscal logic ...

What will humans do if technology solves everything?


Date : Tuesday April 09, 2024Welcome to a high-tech utopia ...

How to build a global currency


Date : Thursday April 04, 2024India is the latest country to try. Painful reforms are required ...

Will FTX’s customers be repaid?


Date : Thursday April 04, 2024As Sam Bankman-Fried is locked up, his erstwhile depositors await their fate ...

The Federal Reserve cleans up its money-printing mess


Date : Thursday April 04, 2024It wants to avoid upsetting markets, and is so far succeeding ...

Daniel Kahneman was a master of teasing questions


Date : Thursday April 04, 2024How a psychologist transformed economics ...

Wanted: a new economics writer


Date : Wednesday April 03, 2024An opportunity to join the staff of The Economist ...

How Xi Jinping plans to overtake America


Date : Sunday March 31, 2024Digital twins, nuclear fusion and the small matter of fixing China’s economy ...

China’s banks have a bad-debt problem


Date : Wednesday March 27, 2024As is becoming increasingly obvious ...

Which country will be last to escape inflation?


Date : Wednesday March 27, 2024A new dividing line in the global fight ...

How the “Magnificent Seven” misleads


Date : Wednesday March 27, 2024Forget the supergroup of stockmarket darlings ...

How India could become an Asian tiger


Date : Wednesday March 27, 2024The world’s most selective bureaucracy is struggling to make it happen ...

Europe’s economy is under attack from all sides


Date : Tuesday March 26, 2024First Putin, now Xi. Next Trump? ...

As markets soar, should investors look beyond America?


Date : Sunday March 24, 2024The country’s stocks are extremely expensive ...

How to trade an election


Date : Thursday March 21, 2024It is becoming harder for investors to ignore politics ...

Why “Freakonomics” failed to transform economics


Date : Thursday March 21, 2024The approach was fun, but has fallen out of favour ...

America’s realtor racket is alive and kicking


Date : Thursday March 21, 2024Celebrations over a settlement between agents and homeowners are premature ...

First Steven Mnuchin bought into NYCB, now he wants TikTok


Date : Thursday March 21, 2024Is there any limit to his ambitions? ...

Why America can’t escape inflation worries


Date : Wednesday March 20, 2024The Federal Reserve sticks to its plans, despite an uncertain situation ...

Japan ends the world’s greatest monetary-policy experiment


Date : Tuesday March 19, 2024For the first time in 17 years, officials raise interest rates ...

How China, Russia and Iran are forging closer ties


Date : Monday March 18, 2024Assessing the economic threat posed by the anti-Western axis ...

How NIMBYs increase carbon emissions


Date : Thursday March 14, 2024Opposition to new buildings has unfortunate consequences ...

The private-equity industry has a cash problem


Date : Thursday March 14, 2024Little wonder its investors are protesting ...

China’s economic bright spots provide a warning


Date : Thursday March 14, 2024What a visit to an optimistic port reveals ...

Saudi Arabia’s investment fund has been set an impossible task


Date : Thursday March 14, 2024It must earn eye-watering returns while speeding the shift to a post-oil economy ...

China is churning out solar panels—and upsetting sand markets


Date : Thursday March 14, 2024The hunt for grains with a silica concentration of more than 99.9% ...

Is the bull market about to turn into a bubble?


Date : Monday March 11, 2024Share prices are surging. Investors are delighted—but also nervous ...

Russia’s economy once again defies the doomsayers


Date : Sunday March 10, 2024As an election nears, Vladimir Putin now looks to have inflation under control ...

An economist’s guide to the luxury-handbag market


Date : Thursday March 07, 2024It is plagued by counterfeits—and information asymmetries ...

How investors get risk wrong


Date : Thursday March 07, 2024Contrary to popular wisdom, more volatile stocks do not outperform ...

The world is in the midst of a city-building boom


Date : Thursday March 07, 2024Everyone, from Donald Trump and Peter Thiel to Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, is getting involved ...

America’s rental-market mystery


Date : Thursday March 07, 2024And why it may deter the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates ...

Globalisation may not have increased income inequality, after all


Date : Thursday March 07, 2024A new study questions the received wisdom on trends within countries ...

Bitcoin’s price is surging. What happens next?


Date : Wednesday March 06, 2024The cryptocurrency is up by 63% this year ...

Can Israel afford to wage war?


Date : Tuesday March 05, 2024As the battle continues, costs are spiralling ...

The Economist’s finance and economics internship


Date : Tuesday March 05, 2024We invite applications for the 2024 Marjorie Deane internship ...

Activist investing is no longer the preserve of hedge-fund sharks


Date : Thursday February 29, 2024ExxonMobil and Starbucks are victims of the latest trend ...

Are passive funds to blame for market mania?


Date : Thursday February 29, 2024They have killed off many of those willing to bet on a downturn ...

Uranium prices are soaring. Investors should be careful


Date : Thursday February 29, 2024The metal has a history of meltdowns ...

What do you do with 191bn frozen euros owned by Russia?


Date : Wednesday February 28, 2024The question that now confronts Western policymakers ...

How Trump and Biden have failed to cut ties with China


Date : Tuesday February 27, 2024It is hard to overcome economic incentives ...

Stockmarkets are booming. But the good times are unlikely to last


Date : Sunday February 25, 2024Although AI is propelling valuations, there are deeper forces at work ...

Gucci, Prada and Tiffany’s bet big on property


Date : Thursday February 22, 2024High-end fashion has some new houses ...

Europe faces a painful adjustment to higher defence spending


Date : Thursday February 22, 2024The choices: taxes, cuts elsewhere, more borrowing ...

Trump wants to whack Chinese firms. How badly could he hurt them?


Date : Thursday February 22, 2024History provides a guide ...