Sanctions are now a central tool of governments’ foreign policy
Apr 22nd 2021IN 2016 JACK LEW, America’s then treasury secretary, reflected on how his country had, over decades, “refined our capacity to apply sanctions effectively”. But he also gave a warning: overuse “could undermine our leadership position within the global economy, and the effectiveness of our sanctions themselves”.Listen to this storyYour browser does not support…
The woes of Huarong pose dilemmas for Beijing
Listen to this storyYour browser does not support the element.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.THE EXECUTIVES of Huarong Asset Management have not been able to hide from China’s authorities. A corruption probe into the state-owned financier in April 2018 sent senior staff and business partners scattering abroad, only to be rounded up…
One emerging-market worry gives way to another
DESPITE THEIR supposed dynamism, emerging markets often struggle to escape their past. A few months ago, investors worried that this year would turn out to be a repeat of 2013, when rising bond yields in America prompted a sharp sell-off in emerging markets, known as the taper tantrum. Now investors are worried that 2021 will…
Isaiah Andrews wins the John Bates Clark Medal
Apr 22nd 2021WASHINGTON, DCECONOMISTS LIKE to crunch numbers and build models to guide policymakers. But who guides them in turn? Isaiah Andrews of Harvard University has been trying to help. On April 20th the American Economic Association awarded him the John Bates Clark Medal, a prize for leading economists under the age of 40, for…
Why Narendra Modi’s party is pulling out all the stops to win in West Bengal
FRESH FROM a rural helipad, Amit Shah climbed to the top of a motorised chariot under the blazing sun. As home minister and right-hand man to Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, Mr Shah is regarded with awe and fear by both allies and opponents in the national capital. But in the sleepy Bengali town of…