Donald Trump should not replace us with his stooges, warns a fired inspector-general
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S purge of me and my 17 fellow inspectors-general (IGs) raises questions that reach far beyond the wor...
Finding meaning in people’s first words—and their last
Bye Bye I Love You. By Michael Erard. mitPress; 344 pages; $32.95 and £30 BABIES COME into the world seeking out comfort, so ...
How cheap can investing get?
THE BATTLE between the world’s two largest exchange-traded funds has reached a pivotal moment. On February 18th VOO, an ETF t...
How overt religiosity became cool in India
“Next month I’m planning to spend a couple of weeks in London.” It is commonplace for such declarations to be made in Delhi’s...
How artificial intelligence can make board games better
BOARD GAMES have long fascinated artificial-intelligence (AI) researchers. They have clear rules, well-defined playing fields...
In a dictator’s palace, Syrians debate a new constitution
Hundreds of Syrians gathered on February 25th in the opulent reception hall of what is now called the People’s Palace in Dama...
In James Bond, Amazon gains a thrilling new asset
After decades of thwarting muscular billionaires bent on world domination, James Bond has at last been captured by one. On Fe...
India has undermined a popular myth about development
Thirty years ago Siddharth Dube, a writer, visited a small village in northern India near the site of a historic peasants’ re...
John Parker, one of The Economist’s finest correspondents, was a polymath journalist
OLDER COLLEAGUES at this newspaper recall when Monday-morning meetings involved squeezing into the editor’s office at The Eco...
Muhsin Hendricks fought homophobia with the Koran
His mother could not end the sentence. “I heard you were divorced,” she had begun, “because you’re—” A long pause. “Gay,” he ...