Should the Fed cut rates below zero?
May 23rd 2020YOU COULD be forgiven for supposing that the Federal Reserve has already thrown everything—kitchen fixtures included—at the covid-19 downturn. In recent months the Fed has slashed its benchmark interest rate to near zero, bought nearly $3trn in assets and launched a bevy of lending programmes. But America’s central bank appears conservative in one…
Why you need to read Jane Austen to appreciate perpetual bonds
May 21st 2020EVERYBODY AGREES that Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is a love story. A truth less universally acknowledged is that it is also about money. When Mr Darcy first enters the Meryton assembly, the stir he causes owes something to his looks and bearing. But it owes a lot more to the fast-circulating report…
Vietnam’s secretive Communist Party embarks on a leadership transition
May 21st 2020IN JANUARY FOUR grey apparatchiks with little name or face recognition inside Vietnam, let alone abroad, will emerge from a five-yearly congress of the Communist Party to take charge of the youthful country of 96m. The line-up will telegraph order and consensus, the obsession of one of the world’s most secretive political organisations.…
Malaysia’s shaky government dodges a no-confidence motion
IT WAS THE shortest session on record. Malaysia’s MPs convened on May 18th to hear a speech from the king (pictured). No sooner had he finished than they adjourned until July. The official reason for the brevity was to avoid spreading covid-19. But the brisk timetable also thwarted plans to hold a vote of no…
Egypt chose a looser lockdown. Its economy is still in crisis
THERE WAS never much chance of social distancing in Cairo, a city more populous than most countries. Buses fill to overflowing, passengers dangling out of open doors. Millions live in informal settlements with streets barely wide enough for a sedan. And indeed, unlike many other Arab countries, Egypt did not try to impose a strict…
Friendly Jews, female bosses: Saudi TV promotes a new vision
IN A WORLD flipped on its head, a note of constancy: the Middle East is arguing about Israel. “Exit 7”, a popular series aired on Saudi television this Ramadan, portrays a family led by Nasser al-Gassabi, a Saudi actor. One episode has his son Ziad befriend an Israeli, via an online video game. True to…
The Craziest COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories
Published on May 22, 2020 by Anne The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest modern pandemics known in history. Currently, there are more than five million confirmed cases in the world, with a total of 333,000 deaths. A total of 1.6 million of these confirmed cases are in the US alone. The world is…
Why interest rates are so high in Africa
WHEN ROBERT MATSIKO was a young man his grain-milling business in Sheema, western Uganda, was destroyed by fire. These days, after building it back up from the ashes, he is being burned by high interest rates. To buy a new machine he must borrow from a bank at an annual rate of 22%. “You fear…
Tracking the economic recovery
LAST MONTH The Economist coined the term “90% economy” to describe what will happen as lockdowns are eased across the world. It depicts a more solitary and less fun sort of society—the sort of place where the office is open but the pub isn’t. Analysis by Tang Jie of Peking University finds that weekday subway…
Vietnam’s secretive Communist Party embarks on a leadership transition
May 21st 2020IN JANUARY FOUR grey apparatchiks with little name or face recognition inside Vietnam, let alone abroad, will emerge from a five-yearly congress of the Communist Party to take charge of the youthful country of 96m. The line-up will telegraph order and consensus, the obsession of one of the world’s most secretive political organisations.…