The Intelligence from The Economist

For many of the 1.5bn pupils affected by school closures, fewer lessons just means more labour—or worse. That spells a lifetime of lost earnings, and lost childhoods. Executive pay has long been in the spotlight, but the pandemic may at last spur some pay cuts. And why Cartagena, the “pearl of the Caribbean”, doesn’t want its old tourism industry back. 

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tensions between China and America are hastening a global technology-industry split. That is not just inefficient; it will have far-reaching geopolitical implications. Today’s scheduled federal execution in America runs counter to the public’s growing discomfort with the death penalty. And a look back at the composer Ennio Morricone and his most profound working relationship.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another strike, evidently on a nuclear-fuel centrifuge facility, is being blamed on Israel—and, by extension, America. It is just the kind of tactic that the abandoned nuclear deal would have obviated. Eastern Europe’s treatment of its drug users runs counter to the “harm-reduction” policies that Europe pioneered decades ago. And faith-based streaming services get a big slice of the pious.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A British team is leading the race for the one innovation that could, in time, halt the coronavirus crisis. But once a vaccine is approved, who would get it, where, and how fast? An Ethiopian musician’s murder has inflamed the ethnic tensions that threaten the country’s transition to democracy. And a rollicking tale of sloppy spycraft in Fiji.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unparalleled surveillance, forced labour, even allegations of ethnic cleansing: atrocities in Xinjiang province carry on. Why are governments and businesses so loth to protest? The field of economics is, at last, facing up to its long-standing race problem. And how covid-19 is scrambling Scandinavians’ stereotypes about one another.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recent Supreme Court rulings might seem like a leftward shift. But Chief Justice John Roberts is leaving loopholes for future conservative challenges. China’s video-sharing social network TikTok was wildly popular in India, until the government pulled the plug this week. And why high-end Bordeaux wines are so (relatively) cheap.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A once-fringe position on annexing the West Bank is now a real prospect. But both international support and opposition are lukewarm; not even Israelis think it a priority. For years, war-crimes allegations hung over Kosovo’s president. Now a court has weighed in—undercutting long-running territorial talks with Serbia. And why flashy homes in Sierra Leone’s capital are taxed the same as tin-roofed shacks.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A sweeping new national-security law deeply undermines Beijing’s “one country, two systems” approach in the territory; under it, arrests have already been made. What next for Hong Kong’s activists and its businesses? Malawi’s overturned election is a ray of hope that democracy can survive both incumbents’ strongman tactics and covid-19. And the varied successes of pro- and anti-Trump tell-all books. 

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Six months on from the first reports of the coronavirus, this special episode examines the catastrophic and even existential risks to civilisation. Work is already under way to head off future pandemics, but how to prepare—and who can take on preparing—for the gravest threats with the longest odds?

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The founders of the United Nations expected it would move with the times. It hasn’t. Can reforms keep all those nations united? The global focus on policing following George Floyd’s death has sparked a reckoning for television shows that distort Americans’ views of cops. And with this weekend’s Glastonbury festival long since postponed, we ask how live music will survive the pandemic. 

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After scattershot enforcement of lockdowns, the region has become the pandemic’s new focal point. But many countries are opening up anyway. America’s latest choke on immigration is aligned with the president’s politics—but not with the tech industry’s needs. And southern France faces a tourist season sans tourists.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A withdrawal agreement struck with America has been damnably hard to implement, but the two sides may at last start talks to crimp nearly two decades of conflict. Wirecard, once the darling of Germany’s financial-technology scene, is now at the centre of a massive scandal—and plenty saw it coming. And big wins by national football teams in Africa help ease internecine violence.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pandemic has been great for sales; for profits, not so much. We examine the e-commerce giant’s prospects as it adapts to a changing world. Throughout history pandemics have helped to shape human conflicts, and covid-19 is no different. And reflecting on the life of an Amazonian storyteller, medicine man and unlikely film star.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cosmopolitan, overweight, multi-ethnic: the country’s makeup has made the pandemic more deadly. But the government has repeatedly played a bad hand badly. Native American communities are being hit hard, too, putting tribal customs and even languages at risk. And why China’s company seals hold such power—and potential for abuse.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coronavirus cases are easing in Democrat-held jurisdictions and rising in Republican-held areas. What is behind the shift, and what will it mean for President Donald Trump? Ireland at last has a coalition-government plan—upending a nearly century-old rivalry in order to keep the Irish-nationalist party Sinn Fein out of power. And a nine-year-old hopes to become the world’s youngest-ever chess grandmaster.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first deaths at the contested border in 45 years signal broader geopolitical shifts—and mark an escalation that will be difficult to reverse. “Mercenary” is less and less a dirty word in Africa; in fact, there may be more of them than ever before. And how the art business increasingly relies on marketing the dead.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After decades as the continent’s penny-pincher, the country seems to be splashing out. That isn’t just a covid-19 response; a big thrift shift was already under way. Burundi’s brutal outgoing president of 15 years has died. Will his chosen successor be any better? And after some serious number-crunching, The Economist launches its US presidential forecast.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tripoli has long been under siege by Khalifa Haftar, a warlord bent on toppling the internationally backed government. At last he has been pushed back from the capital; now what? North Korea is no longer taking calls from the South, but that is probably a diplomatic distraction from big problems at home. And how Ikea is assembling its post-covid future. 

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Far beyond America’s shores demonstrators are calling for justice in their own countries. It’s an awkward time for America’s allies, and a fortuitous one for its rivals. Labour-market swings during recessions are normally a measure of male employees’ moves—but not this time. And why the video-games industry is raiding its own back catalogue.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The seemingly similar social networks have quite different business models—and that goes some way in explaining why they choose to police their content differently. Emmanuel Macron again finds himself changing course after members of his party defect. And move over, doctors: literature by nurses is at last hitting bookshelves.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Demonstrations against police violence have only amplified. We ask why George Floyd’s death touched a nerve, and why these events keep happening in America. A look at the country’s cyber-defences reveals considerable weaknesses—what are states to do as electronic attacks outpace the conventional kind? And what museums are doing now to document the history unfolding around them.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China’s parliament voted today to draft legislation that would utterly undermine the territory’s independence. What now for protesters, for Western powers, for the region’s foreign firms? The pandemic has quashed some crimes but has also created new nefarious opportunities. And it may be closing time for the golden age of the booze business.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pandemic has caused a shift in how drug firms are viewed: their capacity for big-money innovation will give them immunity in the crisis. Widespread homeworking will have broad consequences, from commercial-property values to urban demographics. And a seemingly innocuous Hong Kong history exam is a window into the territory’s increasingly fraught politics. 

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A central bank struggling for independence, dwindling foreign reserves to prop up the currency and a president who just hates rates: Turkey’s economy looked shaky even before covid-19. Online dating carries on apace amid lockdowns, and it seems people are forging more emotionally intimate bonds. And the risk that humans might pass the coronavirus to their primate cousins.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rhetoric and posturing at the World Health Organisation’s annual assembly reveal an agency under geopolitical stresses just when global co-operation is needed most. Illegal logging has become an existential threat for the Amazon; under the cover of covid-19, a new bill in Brazil could hasten its decline. And reflections on the vast musical legacy of Kraftwerk’s Florian Schneider.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Which firms will fly above the covid-19 clouds? Big, low-cost carriers with strong finances seem likeliest, but either way consolidation is inevitable. The Indian state of Kerala seems to be handling its outbreak far better than others; blame an unassuming but wildly popular health minister. And whether New York’s beloved Irish pubs will craic on past the pandemic.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What started as a public-health crisis is developing into an existential one. The most fundamental question to be addressed is: what is the European Union for? Hopes of helpful change by El Salvador’s millennial president are dimming as he becomes increasingly dictatorial. And why so many Indonesians are draping themselves in the sun.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After three elections and 16 months, the unity government between sworn rivals Binyamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz gets to work tonight. Can it withstand the coming political storms? Frenetic research into the coronavirus is upending some long-established ways of disseminating science, perhaps for good. And we examine the merits of outlawing an awkward job interview question. 

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Editor's note: After publication, the swearing in of Israel's new government was postponed until Sunday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a series of government missteps, people in Britain—and, increasingly, outside it—are lambasting the covid-19 response. That has great reputational costs. In a story suited to a television drama, a Filipino network popular with the people but critical of the president has been forced off the air. And our columnist finds surprising modern resonance in a 1950s Argentinian novel. 

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pandemic overshadowed a striking spate of uprisings around the world. In Lebanon economic conditions have only worsened since—and the protesters are back. A look at urban architecture reveals how past diseases have shaped the world’s cities; we ask how much covid-19 will leave its mark. And, can Corona beer, Latin America’s first global brand, escape its associations with the coronavirus?  

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can stockmarkets be so healthy when many businesses are so unwell? We look at the many risks that are clearly not priced in. China’s documentary-makers are having to find clever ways to get past censors—which is why one famed filmmaker is just giving his work away online. And remembering a legendary rock-climber who always wanted to find a new way up.

For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.