Central bankers debate tackling climate change
Dec 14th 2019AS FAR AS interest rates are concerned, the new boss of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, seems largely in agreement with Mario Draghi, her predecessor. Where she seems to differ is in wanting the bank to be greener. On December 2nd she told European parliamentarians that a planned review of its…
America and China reach a “phase one” trade deal
Details are scanty, but new American tariffs due this weekend are cancelledDec 14th 2019Washington, DCAMERICAN TRADE deals typically stretch to thousands of pages. The new “phase one” trade deal between America and China takes up only 86. Robert Lighthizer, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) gave journalists a glimpse of it on December 13th, hours…
Are anti-competitive firms killing American innovation?
Dec 12th 2019WHEN THOMAS PHILIPPON moved from France to America in 1999 to begin a PhD in economics, he found a consumer paradise. Domestic flights were dazzlingly cheap. Household electronics were a relative bargain. In the days of dial-up modems Americans, who were charged a flat rate for local calls, paid far less than Europeans…
Private tutors are illegal in North Korea, but thriving
Dec 12th 2019SEOULSOUTH KOREA’S overworked children are well-known for finishing the school day and heading straight to hagwon (cram-school) classes to become musical virtuosos or to gain an edge over their peers in mathematics or English. In North Korea, by contrast, school is typically followed by compulsory labour in the fields.In recent years, however, school…
Japanese schools are struggling with foreign pupils
Dec 12th 2019TOYOHASHIWHEN HIROKO TSUKIHI instructs her pupils to write down “water” in kanji, the ideograms derived from Chinese that are used alongside Japan’s home-grown syllabic scripts, they groan. Even for native pupils steeped in the language, kanji take hours to memorise. But Ms Tsukihi teaches immigrant children who have recently arrived in Toyohashi, a…
Australia’s government plans to water down ferocious libel laws
Dec 12th 2019SYDNEYIT WAS THE sort of story that was bound to cause a sensation. In 2017 the Daily Telegraph, one of Australia’s best-selling newspapers, reported that Geoffrey Rush, an Oscar-winning actor, had harassed a female co-star. Mr Rush sued the tabloid’s parent company, Nationwide News, saying it had painted him as a “pervert” and…
The Vietnamese football club that defies China
Dec 12th 2019HANOIIT IS JUST a practice match, but the footballers are wearing their full kit anyway. As the shadows stretch across the pitch in inner-city Hanoi, the words emblazoned on their bright yellow jerseys catch the eye. “No-U FC” is not so much a name as a cri de coeur. U refers to the…
As Lebanon’s economy drowns in debt, Syria’s begins to sink as well
Dec 12th 2019BEIRUTOVER THE past two months everyone in Lebanon has become an economist. Walk down the street and you will probably hear snippets of conversation about dollars and exchange rates—and vitriol aimed at bankers. The country is in the third month of a political and economic crisis caused by a drop in remittances and…
Foreign powers are piling into Libya
Dec 12th 2019ALGIERSTHE WOUNDS of Libyan militiamen defending the UN-backed “government of national accord” (GNA) in Tripoli are changing, along with the battle they are fighting. Shrapnel used to be the cause of most of the casualties around the Libyan capital. But lately the fallen have been shot through the head, says a foreign diplomat.…
Eskom is turning out the lights in South Africa
Dec 12th 2019JOHANNESBURGIN RECENT DAYS the only thing darker than South Africans’ homes has been their humour. On December 9th Eskom, the state-owned power utility, announced its biggest-ever blackouts, turning off the lights across Africa’s most industrialised country. Some wags used the remaining battery on their phones to vent on social media. “The E in…