Award: Henry Curr
Oct 1st 2021FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsAppHenry Curr, our economics editor, won the Society of Professional Economists’ Rybczynski Prize for economics writing.This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “null”Reuse this contentThe Trust Project
In Kishida Fumio, Japan’s old guard opts for the status quo
KISHIDA FUMIO, Japan’s new prime minister-in-waiting, likes to jot down voters’ views in little notebooks. After being elected president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on September 29th, he called his special skill the ability “to listen well to others” and warned that the growing distance between politicians and the public amounts to a…
The latest shock to China’s economy: power shortages
Oct 2nd 2021Listen to this storyYour browser does not support the element.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.At least 19 of China’s provinces, including many of its industrial heartlands, have suffered power shortages in recent weeks, with some unplanned and indiscriminate cuts. In many parts of the country, the high price of coal…
China’s new political risk premium
FOR THE average investor, China is the source of all sorts of uncertainty. A regulatory crackdown on social-media and education firms has sent stocks tumbling. Companies with exposure to property are suffering as a result of a clampdown on leverage and a liquidity crisis at Evergrande, a developer. A ban on cryptocurrency transactions briefly knocked…
In power, the Taliban’s divisions are coming to the fore
AFGHANISTAN’S PRESIDENTIAL palace has seen its fair share of bad-tempered quarrels between politicians. In recent years the castle-like building in the centre of Kabul was the site of bitter spats between the irascible former president, Ashraf Ghani, and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah. Mr Ghani is said to have taken anger-management classes. At one point he…
A new report digs into China’s labyrinthine foreign 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 flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Chinese state media celebrate the railroad, set to open in December, as…
African pension funds have grown impressively
ON THE KAMPALA skyline workers can watch their savings climb into the air. Pension Towers, an office complex financed by the state-run provident fund, will be one of Uganda’s tallest buildings. Work began in 2008 and has been marred by fatal accidents, corruption allegations and budget overruns. The skyscraper illustrates the growing size of African…
Kais Saied plans to transform Tunisia. It may go bust first
BEFORE HE SENT a tank to bar the doors of parliament, Kais Saied was a law professor who preached fealty to the constitution. It may seem a contradiction, but contradictions helped propel Mr Saied (pictured) to the Tunisian presidency in 2019. He was a populist with a patrician manner, a self-styled democrat who disdained political…