Myanmar’s junta takes advantage of a devastating earthquake
Since March 28th, when a powerful earthquake shook Myanmar’s central heartlands, the country’s brutal junta has tried to show...
Researchers lift the lid on how reasoning models actually “think”
As all scribblers of doggerel know, rhymes must be paired up before you start a new line. Otherwise you may write yourself in...
Sneakernomics and the surprising future of sneakers
A FEW YEARS ago trainers were the footwear du jour. Rubber-soled shoes, the kind sported by sportsmen, strode down catwalks a...
Syrians are still surprisingly upbeat
Presenting his new government on March 29th, Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, called it “a declaration of our shar...
The Panama ports deal is delayed, as China signals dissent
It was never going to be a simple transaction. But the deal hailed by Donald Trump as a way to regain American control of the...
The Trump train slows
THESE DAYS are dire and dour for Democrats. But April 1st brought a brief reprieve—and not because of jokes. That was the day...
The American government’s accidental private-credit subsidy
Apollo has borrowed over $15bn from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Des Moines, one of 11 privately owned but government...
Tin, an overlooked critical metal, is enjoying a boom
The metal has been used since ancient times. From the Bronze Age until the 18th century, when it was supplanted by porcelain,...
Trump takes America’s trade policies back to the 19th century
Few expected him to go so far. In a stunning shift in American economic policy, Donald Trump has yanked up tariffs across the...
What a refugee camp reveals about economics
It is Malawi’s rainy season and smartly dressed worshippers are spilling out from church. Couples, arm-in-arm, dodge potholes...