An ambitious unicorn hopes to up-end DNA analysis
Oct 2nd 2021GENETICISTS LIKE to compare progress in their field with the breakneck speed of innovation in computing. There, large, slow mainframes developed into fast, midsized desktops and then into the pocket-sized supercomputers known as smartphones. Similarly, the sequencing of the first human genome was announced, amid great pomp and fanfare, in 2003. It had…
Two Fed presidents resign after criticism of their investment activities
Oct 2nd 2021Washington, DCROBERT KAPLAN had a busy 2020. As a voting member of the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy committee, he participated in its decisions to ramp up stimulus. As head of the Dallas Fed, he made two dozen public appearances, speaking at chambers of commerce, think-tanks and conferences. And as a wealthy individual, he traded…
Can lending controls solve the problem of unaffordable housing?
Oct 2nd 2021HOUSE PRICES in the rich world are growing at their fastest rate for 30 years. Those in America rose by a record 19.7% in the year to July, according to figures published on September 28th. House prices measured relative to incomes are above their long run averages in three-quarters of OECD countries. Policymakers…
India’s government is using the taxman against its opponents
Oct 2nd 2021SONU SOOD is nothing if not gracious. The square-jawed he-man of such features as “Tutak Tutak Tutiya” (2016) and “Kung Fu Yoga” (2017) says that when tax inspectors stormed his house, he tried to make it the best possible experience for them. When the uninvited guests left three days later, having kept the…
Afghan embassies don’t recognise the Taliban
Oct 2nd 2021THE TALIBAN prevent girls from going to secondary school in Afghanistan. Yet the country’s ambassador to America is a woman. That is not because the group has decided that women’s rights are a good thing after all. It is just that they cannot replace her. No country yet recognises the Islamic Emirate established…
Could Libya be ruled again by a Qaddafi?
Oct 2nd 2021TEN YEARS ago, when Muammar Qaddafi met a grisly end after 42 years in power, no one thought that a member of his family might ever end up back in charge of Libya. During the Arab spring a wave of euphoria washed across the country after the dictator’s demise. His seven sons were…
South Africa’s main opposition sees coalitions ahead
JOHN STEENHUISEN’S office in South Africa’s parliament is the lair of a political animal. The leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the country’s main opposition party, has election memorabilia from around the world and two large photographs of John F. Kennedy. Smaller snaps show the 45-year-old alongside British politicians, including David Cameron. A book by…
Just how Dickensian is China?
Oct 2nd 2021WITH ITS fast trains, super-apps, digital payments and techno-surveillance, China can seem like a vision of the future. But for some scholars, such as Yuen Yuen Ang of the University of Michigan, it is also reminiscent of the past. Its buccaneering accumulation of wealth and elaborate choreography of corruption recall America’s Gilded Age…
Making sense of the chaos in commodity markets
Oct 2nd 2021THE WORLD championships of slot-car racing are a microcosm of mayhem. Tiny remote-controlled models of cars fly up, down and off a convoluted circuit faster than befuddled spectators can follow. Forecasting winners is impossible. This year’s race, due to be held in America, was cancelled owing to travel restrictions. But amateurs of high-risk…
A new report digs into the labyrinthine nature of China’s loans
Sep 30th 2021ON THE OUTSKIRTS of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, workers for China Railway No. 2 Engineering Group recently welded the last two 500m lengths of “seamless rail” for the China-Laos Railway, a signature project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Chinese state media celebrates the railroad, set to open in December, as…