Category Archive: 5) Global Macro

Reunions and rubble: Gaza’s first moments of peace

Quiet skies, returned Israeli hostages, Gazans going back home: there is much to celebrate (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/01/19/the-start-of-a-fragile-truce-in-gaza-offers-relief-and-joy?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners), for the moment. We examine the path to a more robust and...

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Billionaires boldly go: private space-treks

This week Blue Origin (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/01/01/can-jeff-bezos-match-elon-musk-in-space?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners), Jeff Bezos’s space-exploration company, successfully launched a rocket into orbit on its first attempt. That marks a new frontier in the private...

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Peace by piece: a ceasefire in Gaza is close

After 15 months of fighting, a ceasefire in Gaza (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/01/15/after-15-months-of-hell-israel-and-hamas-sign-a-ceasefire-deal?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) may soon be agreed. What does the deal entail – and could it last? Our correspondent has uncovered...

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Arrest development: South Korea’s Yoon held

After dramatic scenes (https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/01/15/after-the-presidents-arrest-what-next-for-south-korea?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) in South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained on insurrection charges, stemming from his attempt to impose martial law in December. But, says...

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View to a killing: bond yields rise and rise

Though central banks have cut interest rates, uncertainty about the future has sent yields sky-high (https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/01/12/why-global-bond-markets-are-convulsing?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners). Our correspondent explains why expectations diverge from the economic...

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A run for cover: LA’s fires and insurance

Among the lessons emerging from California’s devastating fires is the idea that insurers cannot price risk (https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/01/10/the-los-angeles-fires-will-be-extraordinarily-expensive?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) on past data: the climate-change future is already...

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Moving the post goals: Musk’s British-politics meddling

Elon Musk has taken an abiding interest in Britain, and a hard line against its prime minister. It reveals a division (https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/01/09/what-elon-musks-tweets-about-sex-abuse-reveal-about-british-politics?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) within British politics that may hold...

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Adaptitude: India and climate change

The world’s most populous country is at the front line of climate change. Our deputy editor explores the many ways it is adapting (https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/01/02/how-14bn-indians-are-adapting-to-climate-change?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners)—because it must. Our series The World Ahead...

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Towards Russia with love: Austria’s political tilt

A once-fringe far-right party looks close to power—and serves as another sign of a broad and worrying pro-Russia trend (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/01/07/the-putinisation-of-central-europe?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) in central European politics. Meanwhile Jean-Marie Le Pen...

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It’s no longer Trudeau: Canada’s PM resigns

In the end Justin Trudeau could not resist the internal pressure. We ask why the liberal standard-bearer got pushed out (https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2025/01/06/justin-trudeau-leaves-a-wrecked-party-and-divided-canada?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners), and what comes next. Ten years after...

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Against the clock: Gaza peace talks

Israel continued to pound Gaza, even as ceasefire negotiations began in Qatar. The familiar dynamic will soon be interrupted by a new American administration. Our analysis shows that Nordic firms have markedly better fundamentals...

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All the president’s money men: the Trumponomics team

There are three types (https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/01/02/will-elon-musk-dominate-president-trumps-economic-policy?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) of economics-minded people in Donald Trump’s incoming administration. We ask whether they are likely to collaborate or to compete....

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Three presidents and counting: South Korea

The country is on its third president in as many weeks—a deep political crisis (https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/12/14/south-koreas-president-is-impeached?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) only made worse by the most deadly air disaster in South Korean history. A change to how Brazil’s football teams...

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What will be the biggest stories in 2025?

What will be the stories that shape the coming year? Tom Standage, editor of The World Ahead, reveals his top 3 for 2025

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Don’t mention the war: Russia’s internal tensions

There is no simplistic split of sentiment about Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. But what most Russians want is a return to normal that now seems impossible (https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/11/28/the-war-in-ukraine-is-straining-russias-economy-and-society?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners). Our The...

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Billions of voices heard: a year of elections

In some places, votes resulted in political chaos; in others they showed a promising shift away from identity politics. Our deputy editor looks back on 2024’s pile of polls. Looking ahead, we examine the Chinese cities...

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"Too Big to Care" and the Illusion of Choice

In a functional economy with real competition and transparency, every one of these cartel-corporations would be driven out of business by their 'too big to care' incompetence.

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2024 in 90 seconds

Our pages have been full of suffering in 2024. War has raged on three continents: the world watched Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine most closely, but the fighting in Sudan was the most deadly. Storms, tempests, floods and fires have ruined lives, and taken them. ⁠ ⁠ All the while, the rivalry between countries siding with China and the American-led Western alliance has deepened, even as America has chosen as president a man whose commitment to that...

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Of peanuts and principles: Jimmy Carter dies

After a single term and a landslide loss to Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter’s presidency was judged unduly harshly. What matters, though, are the principles he held dear...

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Passing mentions: the notable lives lost in 2024

From a legendary baseball slugger (https://www.economist.com/obituary/2024/06/26/willie-mayss-philosophy-was-simple-they-throw-the-ball-i-hit-the-ball?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) to a beloved comic actor...

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