Music royalties are proving a hit for investors
Dec 3rd 2020BEN STENNIS is a country-music songwriter from Nashville who has written hits for performers such as Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean. Earlier this year, as the music industry was stopped in its tracks by the coronavirus, a company called Royalty Exchange offered him the chance to raise some cash. Since 2016 it has…
Should you buy European shares?
Dec 3rd 2020TWO MEN are sitting in adjacent restaurant booths. One is talking at length—about train journeys, women, morality, taking chances, living one day at a time. The other is captivated. “When you die, you’re going to regret the things you don’t do,” says the speaker. After more of this, he sighs, pauses and offers…
Despite a weak economy, India’s stockmarket is at record highs
Dec 5th 2020THE MOOD ON Dalal Street, Mumbai’s version of Wall Street, is jubilant. Record highs are being achieved in one session after another on the Bombay Stock Exchange, most recently on December 2nd. The Sensex, an index of the country’s biggest 30 firms, is up by around 72% since March 23rd, the day before…
Joe Biden’s choice of economic advisers signals his priorities
Dec 5th 2020WASHINGTON, DCJOE BIDEN’S record as president may well hinge on his response to America’s economic woes. On December 1st the president-elect launched his effort to right the economy, when he formally unveiled his choices for top policy jobs. His economic team stands out for its diversity, its interest in climate change, and its…
Tanzania’s police are torturing refugees from Burundi
EVEN AFTER Tanzanian policemen had hung him from the ceiling and beaten him with sticks, Crispin (not his real name) would not confess to being a rebel leader with plans to overthrow the government of neighbouring Burundi. It was only when they injected a liquid into his testicles that he caved in and said he…
In Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed has won the battle but not the war
THE BATTLE, in the end, was mercifully short. The 500,000 inhabitants of Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, were spared a large-scale bloodbath. On November 28th Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, declared victory over Tigray’s ruling party, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). A military operation that had started a few weeks…