China’s monetary stimulus is unusually restrained
YI GANG, THE head of China’s central bank, is fond of saying that he wants to run “normal” monetary policy. By that he means keeping interest rates well above zero, ensuring that the yield curve slopes upwards and avoiding direct purchases of the government’s bonds—much of which, in fact, make the People’s Bank of China…
Why the economic value of a face mask is $56.14
Aug 22nd 2020Editor’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 hubAFTER A BRUTAL first six months of the year, governments across the world are hoping for an economic bounce-back. Rich-world GDP fell by about 10% in…
The internet is patchy on Pakistan’s north-west frontier
IMTIAZ HUSSAIN’S weekly meeting with his academic supervisor has become rather fraught. The 28-year-old postgraduate is researching Pakistan’s energy policy at one of the country’s most prestigious universities. But the internet at his home in Kurram, a district on the border with Afghanistan, keeps letting him down. Mr Hussain’s cable connection is an expensive luxury…
Covid-19 has made it hard for the Japanese to visit family graves
EVERY AUGUST the spirits of fallen ancestors rise all across Japan. During obon, the living commemorate them with offerings of food at altars, gather for festivals, and perform collective dances known as bon odori. Many stream back to their home towns to be with family and visit cemeteries to pay respects to their dead. “Graves…
The Arab countries most likely to recognise Israel
“NOW THAT the ice has been broken, I expect more Arab and Muslim countries will follow the United Arab Emirates’ lead,” said President Donald Trump on August 13th, when the UAE became just the third Arab state (after Egypt and Jordan) to establish formal ties with Israel. The move was greeted with approval by several…
Iran’s clerics argue over how to hold the festival of Muharram
Aug 22nd 2020LAST MONTH Saudi Arabia did something unprecedented. To slow the spread of covid-19, it restricted participation in the haj, the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, which every Muslim is expected to perform once in their life. Somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000 people already resident in the kingdom were allowed to…
When covid-19 becomes a chronic illness
Aug 22nd 2020Editor’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 hubTHE SYMPTOMS began in March, says Laura, a British woman in her mid-20s. At first covid-19 felt like a bad case of flu: a dry cough,…
Bubble-hunting has become more art than science
With the usual gauges of frothiness out of action, behavioural signals are all investors haveAug 19th 2020UPON BEING sucked into investing during the South Sea Bubble, Sir Isaac Newton reflected that he could “calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies but not the madness of people”. From tulip mania in 17th-century Amsterdam to railway fever…
Face Masks In Restrooms? Urinals May Spread COVID-19
Flushing urinals can discharge clouds of virus-carrying aerosols that you can possibly inhale, a recent study found. Researchers in China from Yangzhou University unearthed that flushing urinals can expel clouds of virus-loaded aerosols that a person can ultimately inhale, a substantial worry during this COVID-19 epidemic. The bunch recently reported analogous findings with flushing public…
An End to Monarchy? The Growing Pro-Democracy Movement in Thailand
Just recently, amid a global pandemic, thousands of Thai citizens rallied to the streets to call for constitutional reform. This may be considered as one of the largest anti-government protests the country has seen through the decades. Now, authorities are scrambling to douse the flames of the protests. What are Thai Fighting For? A good…