The WTO has a new chief. Is it time for new trade rules too?
Feb 20th 2021WASHINGTON, DCFIXING THE World Trade Organisation (WTO) is not enough for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and…
Why SPACs are Wall Street’s latest craze
Feb 16th 2021WHAT LINKS Martin Luther King III, the son of the civil-rights leader; Shaquille O’Neal, a former basketball player;…
Why the prices of both oil and the metals that seek to replace it are rising
OIL IS MAKING a comeback, at least on the face of it. On February 8th the price of Brent crude rose above $60 a barrel for the…
Should governments in emerging economies worry about their debt?
FINANCE MINISTERS of yesteryear would have been shocked by the amount of borrowing their successors must now contemplate. But…
Lessons in betting against bubbles from the Big Short
Feb 11th 2021HE NOW RUNS a chain of hotels in his native Ghana. But in the 1990s Tony Yeboah played football at a high level,…
European banks need new chiefs
Feb 13th 2021EUROPEAN BANKS’ fourth-quarter earnings, releases of which are clustered around early February, have been surprisingly…
Inflation will rise in the coming months
INFLATION IS likely to jump in the coming months, as last year’s oil-price drop falls out of the annual comparison. Prices spiked…
China leads in precision-guided central banking. Does it work?
Feb 13th 2021IN ECONOMICS TEXTBOOKS, central banks wield power by raising or lowering interest rates. That depiction, always a…
Washing machines reveal how trade and competition are linked
Feb 13th 2021Washington, DCAMERICAN WASHING-MACHINE makers received a parting gift from President Donald Trump. Days before leaving…