Banks lose out to capital markets when it comes to credit provision
IN RENAISSANCE ITALY the first modern bankers realised that they could get away with keeping only some of the gold that was deposited with them on hand, and lending out the rest. In most countries banks have dominated lending to households and firms ever since. America has long been different, though. Yes, banks have played…
Unusually, copper and gold prices are rising in tandem
THERE IS, SUPPOSEDLY, a neat choreography to copper and gold prices. When one rises, the other tends to fall. In an economic downturn, for instance, gold climbs as investors seek a haven. Copper prices dip as manufacturing and construction slow. But these are unusual times, and gold and copper are moving in unusual ways. Rather…
Central Asian governments admit they have a problem with covid-19
Editor’s note: Some of our covid-19 coverage is free for readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. For more stories and our pandemic tracker, see our hubWHEN TURKMENISTAN’S president did a spot of fishing recently, he brought a snazzy accessory with him: a camouflage face mask. The isolationist Central Asian state is one of…
Why Tanzania’s statistics look fishy
Jul 23rd 2020AFTER THE cold war ended, much of Africa democratised and opened up. Few countries better embodied the feverish hope of the 1990s than Tanzania. It had suffered grievously in the 1960s and 1970s under its founding leader, Julius Nyerere. A nascent democracy was throttled by one-party rule. An economy with great potential was…
The Yoho Confrontation: Gender Prejudice in US Politics
Just recently, a controversy arose in the House of Representatives after Florida Representative Ted Yoho was heard muttering sexist expletives against the famous New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). The latter, since she took her seat of power, had been receiving non-stop criticism from the public and her fellow lawmakers. The reason? She is young,…
Why real-time economic data need to be treated with caution
The measures are not a proxy for overall economic activity
Ant Group announces plans to list in Shanghai and Hong Kong
It becomes the latest in a trail of listings
Even as India urbanises, caste discrimination remains rife
Cities are segregated, and inter-caste marriages are vanishingly rare
As crews grow old, Japanese shipping firms try to do without them
But robots have a lot to learn about the ways of the sea
Bigotry against black people poisons the Arab world, too
Protests in America have shone a new light on an old problem