How the twists and turns of the trade war are hurting growth
Oct 17th 2019HONG KONGAFTER WELCOMING the St Louis Blues, a championship-winning ice-hockey team, to the White House on October 15th, President Donald Trump fondly recalled a recent triumph of his own: last week’s tentative trade deal with China. Simply put, America will impose no further punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if China promises to buy…
A Nobel economics prize goes to pioneers in understanding poverty
Oct 17th 2019THE MOST important question in economics is also the hardest: why do some countries stay poor while others grow rich? In 2015, 10% of the world’s population lived on less than $1.90 per day, down from 36% in 1990. But more than 700m people remain in extreme poverty, and the number grows every…
The Fed has lightened the load on America’s banks
But it’s only a regulatory recalibration, not a Trumpian trashingOct 15th 2019AMERICA’S BANKS had high hopes for Donald Trump’s presidency. Perhaps no industry had greater expectations of sweeping deregulation. On the campaign trail in 2016 Mr Trump had promised to dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, which put in place stricter rules after the financial…
A mini-truce between America and China has investors feeling hopeful
But there remain plenty of reasons for pessimismOct 12th 2019COULD IT be a ceasefire at last? After months of rising tension and threats of ever higher tariffs, American and Chinese negotiators agreed to a mini-truce on October 11th. In exchange for America holding off on a tariff increase planned for October 15th, the Chinese government…
Where did the reformist just re-elected as Indonesia’s president go?
Sep 26th 2019NOT SINCE 1998, when huge crowds demanding reformasi brought down Suharto, Indonesia’s late dictator, have university students taken to the streets in such numbers. In cities across the archipelago and, above all, outside the parliament in Jakarta, tens of thousands have gathered in the past few days. Despite tear-gas, water cannon and beatings,…
Kazakhstan promises to allow public protests, just not yet
Sep 26th 2019ALMATYKAZAKHSTAN’S NEW president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has tried to sound like a refreshing change after decades of autocracy. Early this month, in his first state-of-the-nation speech, he said his “listening state” would show greater tolerance of dissent. Days earlier, citizens had witnessed the astonishing sight of pro-democracy marches proceeding without arrests. But other protests,…
An administrative error reveals the fear Filipinos have of the police
Sep 26th 2019WHEN RODRIGO DUTERTE threatens criminals, they pay attention. After all, since becoming president of the Philippines three years ago he has championed an all-out war on drugs that has claimed between 5,000 and 20,000 lives (the numbers are disputed). So when Mr Duterte warned a big group of convicts freed from prison by…
A tax hike threatens the health of Japan’s economy
Sep 26th 2019EARLIER THIS year the organisers of the Rugby World Cup, now taking place in Japan, held a briefing for bar and restaurant owners in Oita, a city on the island of Kyushu that will host five matches. As an example of what to expect, the briefing included a photo of a South Africa…
Why an “Uber for tailors” is gaining ground in Lagos
Sep 26th 2019LAGOS“RICH AND poor, everyone has a tailor here,” says Olajire Omikunle, a couturier for Nigeria’s powerful. So great is the appeal of a well-cut outfit in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre, that roadside stitchers rove the streets armed with their sewing machines and clicking their large scissors to drum up customers.David Peterside, a local…
A new study slams America for neglecting Syria’s civil war
Sep 26th 2019AT THE END of last year President Donald Trump explained that he was done with Syria. He boasted of defeating the jihadists of Islamic State (IS), “my only reason for being there”. Though he later reversed his decision to withdraw all 2,000 American troops from Syria, the conflict remains low on his list…