Category Archive: 5) Global Macro

Nvincible? What could curb Nvidia’s supremacy

The American chip designer has become one of the world’s most valuable companies on the back of the AI revolution. But there are some contradictions in Nvidia’s plans for the future (https://www.economist.com/business/2024/08/26/what-could-stop-the-nvidia-frenzy?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)....

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Cryptic message: why arrest Telegram’s founder?

As Pavel Durov (https://www.economist.com/business/2024/08/27/the-arrest-of-telegrams-founder-rattles-social-media?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) sits in a French cell waiting to find out if he will be charged, our correspondent probes the links between Telegram and Russia. What central bankers and...

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Block busters: how Russia flouts sanctions

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the West has deployed massive economic restrictions (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/08/19/the-mysterious-middlemen-helping-russias-war-machine?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 Russian trade. So why is Russia’s economy growing? A survivor’s story from the forgotten...

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The chips are down: will diet drugs devour junk food?

Snack-food companies have long shown their adaptability to changing diets (https://www.economist.com/business/2024/08/18/can-big-food-adapt-to-healthier-diets?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). How could the rise of appetite-suppressing drugs and fears about ultra-processed foods change the food we...

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KamaChameleon: What does Harris stand for?

After an electric week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Kamala Harris now faces the real test (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/08/22/kamala-harris-can-beat-donald-trump-but-how-would-she-govern?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 her bid to be president. Can she convince American...

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Electric eye: AI is helping fight terrorists

Predicting political violence is a painstaking job. Now AI is helping analysts (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/07/31/how-america-built-an-ai-tool-to-predict-taliban-attacks?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) look for clues and throwing up fascinating insights into the shifts that may...

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The human strain: can mpox be contained?

Mpox is spreading fast across Africa, yet public information campaigns are scant and vaccines in short supply. Is a new pandemic in the offing? Strategists are pondering a new potential threat from Russia: the possibility that it could detonate a nuclear weapon in space...

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Byte by byte: Iran and Israel’s escalating cyberwar

While many people fear the risk of a wider war breaking out in the Middle East, a parallel battle (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/08/15/irans-electronic-confrontation-with-israel?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) is already ongoing – in the digital sphere. Can China challenge a...

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Hail Harris: the Democratic convention begins

As Democrats convene in Chicago, polls suggest Kamala Harris (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/08/15/our-forecast-puts-kamala-harris-and-donald-trump-neck-and-neck?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) is ahead by a whisker in the US presidential race. Can the party sustain the momentum? In hospital,...

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Landing padded: the global-recession risk

Inflation, interest rates and jobless numbers are on healthy trends; markets are gaining back ground. As the spectre of global recession fades (https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/08/07/a-global-recession-is-not-in-prospect?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) we ask why fear has persisted....

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The best non-fiction of 2024—so far

Packing for your summer holiday? Rachel Lloyd, our deputy culture editor, discusses five of our top non-fiction books of the year so far.

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What Trump means for nuclear defence

Donald Trump is a fan of nuclear weapons. If he were to win the 2024 election he would make nuclear deterrence even more unstable Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI US election coverage: https://www.economist.com/us-election-2024 America prepares for a new nuclear arms race: https://econ.st/4csgSYy A new era of nuclear uncertainty: https://econ.st/4dJX8Rk What would nuclear war in the 21st century look...

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One peace at a time: Gaza, Israel and Iran

Peace talks in Doha have a chance at progress even in Hamas’s absence. The outcome could determine the scope of Iran’s promised retaliations (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/08/07/israeli-aircraft-buzz-beirut-as-the-drums-of-war-bang-loud?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) against...

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The best fiction of 2024—so far

Looking for your next summer read? Our deputy culture editor, Rachel Lloyd, shares five of The Economist's top fiction books of 2024—so far.

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Bait the hook! Fishing in the global talent pool

Skilled immigrants bring more than just their expertise to job markets. But governments miss opportunities to attract them—or make them feel entirely unwelcome. In America it seems like the standard tip fraction just keeps going up and up...

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AIOU: what if the AI boom busts?

Corporate investment in artificial-intelligence infrastructure reaches $1.4trn by some estimates. We ask what might threaten (https://www.economist.com/business/2024/07/28/what-could-kill-the-1trn-artificial-intelligence-boom?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) the expected windfalls that justify the...

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The boot is on the other foot: Ukraine’s surprise incursion

Part of Russia is under foreign control for the first time since the second world war. We ask about the strategy behind the surprise raid (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/08/11/ukraines-shock-raid-deep-inside-russia-rages-on?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)—which may not be the last. The Paris...

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What happens to your brain when you fall in love?

00:00 - Love at first sight 00:57 - Love in the long term 01:20 - Love as a necessity What really happens to your brain when you fall in love? We explain the science of attraction. Sign up to The Economist’s Simply Science newsletter: https://econ.st/4cfEtvf More from our Science & technology section: https://econ.st/4dE99az The science of love at first sight: https://econ.st/4dUpsR5 How to keep the brain healthy:...

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Expelling mistake: the costs of hardline immigration policy

The rich world is experiencing record migrant flows (https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/07/21/the-rich-world-revolts-against-sky-high-immigration?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 the attendant social upheaval. Finding immigration policies that are not economically ruinous is damnably...

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Arrivals haul: anti-tourism’s folly

Tourists are getting decidedly less-warm welcomes in popular spots, but blunt anti-tourism policies are self-defeating. We look at how to maintain benefits (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/08/01/how-to-make-tourism-work-for-locals-and-visitors-alike?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 both the...

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