Using bitcoin as legal tender
WHEN ASKED if anyone has tried to use bitcoin to pay her, a woman selling coffee and pastries in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador, replies “thank God, no”, and rebuffs an attempt to do so. A man selling soup for lunch brushes off the idea with laughter. By dinnertime, low on phone…
At the Jackson Hole meeting, the Fed ponders an uneven recovery
Sep 2nd 2021BUSINESS CYCLES are never perfectly symmetric across time and space. Yet they have rarely been as uneven as the rebound from covid-19. Some parts of the global economy are straining to meet roaring demand even as others limp along, battered by the spread of the virus. It is enough to take the fun…
The Taliban announce Afghanistan’s new government
THE NEW TALIBAN look a lot like the old Taliban, if the make-up of their new government is anything to go by. On September 7th Afghanistan’s new rulers set out a 33-man strong interim administration packed with stalwarts and clerics. Unsurprisingly, there are no women in the line-up. More surprisingly, the group broke its pledges…
Criminalising sex work does more harm than good
Sep 4th 2021SUNTI ANI, an Indonesian sex worker, has been arrested more times than she can count. She lives in Malang, in the province of East Java, where her trade was criminalised in 2014 on the basis that prostitution is “prohibited by all religions”. Until then, she worked in a brothel. But after, she says,…
What the travails of a reformist governor say about Nigeria
STANDING AT ABOUT five-foot-four, Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Nigeria’s northern state of Kaduna, says he models himself on Deng Xiaoping, who put China on a path to growth after the misery of rule by Mao Zedong. Mr El-Rufai sees a new path for Kaduna and, some say, for Nigeria itself.Listen to this storyYour browser does…
Israel’s foreign policy has changed in tone but not in substance
EVEN THOUGH Ramallah and Jerusalem are but a few minutes’ drive apart, no Israeli minister had met the Palestinian president for seven years. The taboo was broken on August 29th when Israel’s defence minister, Benny Gantz, visited Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, the Palestinians’ administrative capital. The Israelis were at pains to emphasise that they had…
Trump’s Kayleigh McEnany Blasts Biden, Twitter Does What It Does
Published on Aug 24, 2021 by Noemi TTrump’s White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany blasts Biden and his admin, and Twitter’s reaction is brilliant as always.The Trump cabinet member — also Fox News host — has been busy in the past few weeks, telling everyone who would listen how wrong they are — in favor…
How Social Media is Transforming the Rental Sector
Social media has revolutionized the world of real estate. Agents and brokers use platforms like Facebook and Twitter to promote listings. Homeowners are also using social media to sell their homes in a bid to save money from real estate commissions.In today’s real estate market, social media platforms are taking an even greater role in…