Europe faces a new age of gunboat digital diplomacy
In an era dominated by tech giants worth trillions of dollars, no European firm started from scratch in the past 50 years is ...
Germans are growing cold on the debt brake
WHAT DO Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz, the Bundesbank, the imf, the OECD, Germany’s biggest trade union, its state-appointed cou...
Germans are world champions of calling in sick
Historically Germany has been a world champion of the rights of workers related to their health. In 1883 Otto von Bismarck, c...
Government by social media in Somalia
Thirty years ago, making a phone call from Somalia meant crossing the border into better-connected Kenya or Ethiopia. Yet by ...
Britain’s brokers are diversifying and becoming less British
Corporate brokers are a peculiarly British phenomenon. Serving as a bridge between founders and investors, brokers have worke...
Henri Bergson was once the world’s most famous philosopher
Herald of a Restless World. By Emily Herring. Basic Books; 320 pages; $32 and £25 MANY PEOPLE think that there must be someth...
How (un)popular is China’s Communist Party?
China’s announcement on January 17th that its economy had grown by an estimated 5% in 2024, right on target, was greeted with...
Backpacks are, surprisingly, in vogue
They were once the accessory of choice for hikers, paupers and pupils. No adult with even vague ambitions of style would be c...
It’s a good time to be an astrologer in China
YOUNG PEOPLE have always come to Ms Xia with questions about their relationships. Now they often ask the astrologer about the...