The world in a glance.

Forget affordability. Europe has an availability crisis

Tight regulation is largely to blame

Why fewer Americans are giving than before

The decline of philanthropy is not just about Donald Trump

The five biggest market developments of 2025

Looking back on a rollercoaster year for investors

How to interpret the pain at the edge of America’s labour market

In the past it has foretold wider weakness. This time may be different

Watch who you’re calling childless

Women in America are having as many babies over their lifetimes as they did two decades ago

Meet the American investors rushing into Congo

They are taking on war, corruption and China

This Christmas, raise a glass to concentrated market returns

A surprisingly large share of companies lag far behind their former greatness

Where America’s most prominent short-sellers are placing their bets

We interview three financial sleuths

Germany has a lawyer problem

Its endless bureaucratic rules trap would-be reformers

What a stiff drink says about China’s economy

The baijiu business is the latest to be struck by “involution”

America’s bond market is quiet—almost too quiet

Scott Bessent has a cunning plan

Which economy did best in 2025?

Our annual ranking returns

Can golden toilets fix China’s economy?

Communist Party officials think so

Bitcoin has plunged. Strategy Inc is an early victim

It holds 3% of the world’s total supply

American sanctions are putting Russia under pressure

In time, though, its tankers will find new routes

AI misinformation may have paradoxical consequences

To understand why, consider the side-blotched lizard

Stockholm is Europe’s new capital of capital

And with Sweden embarking on a borrowing spree, it is a bond trader’s paradise

Which Kevin Hassett would lead the Federal Reserve?

He was once a right-of-centre tax expert. He has become a partisan hack

How to spot a bubble bursting

Forget valuations. Look out for search-engine hits and fund managers getting fired

Why worries about American job losses are overstated

Bosses, investors, policymakers—all are fearful of a jobs-pocalypse

Self-driving cars will transform urban economies

A robotaxi boom is coming. The impacts might be broader than you expect

China’s property market is (somehow) worsening

Government remedies are not up to the job

One weird trick to solve the affordability crisis

If voters dislike big numbers, there is a purely nominal fix

How to short the bubbliest firms

Private markets present fearsome challenges

Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening

Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption

Why investors are increasingly fatalistic

Everyone knows share prices have a long way to fall. Even so, getting out now might be a mistake

Visa restrictions are bad for Indians—but maybe not for India

Remittances may fall, but opportunities are opening up

Economists get cold feet about high minimum wages

Governments are pushing the policy to its limits

Can the Chinese economy match Aruba’s?

Xi Jinping has lofty goals for 2035. But China faces a real problem

America’s huge mortgage market is slowly dying

Donald Trump’s remedies threaten to inflame a housing crisis

Crypto got everything it wanted. Now it’s sinking

The slump could spread across financial markets

Tree murders and the economics of crime

Rich people can’t stop cutting down each other’s woodland

How AI is breaking cover letters

And leading to lower pay

In defence of personal finance

It may widen inequality. But it has many advantages

Old folk are seized by stockmarket mania

Investing in equities may make sense for individuals—but it could also exacerbate a crash

Recessions have become ultra-rare. That is storing up trouble

Continuous growth can make economies fat and slow

The problem with America’s shutdown economy

Gridlock in Washington has prevented official data releases. And unofficial ones disagree

What explains India’s peculiar stability?

In a tricky neighbourhood the country remains calm

Don’t blame AI for your job woes

The white-collar chill has more to do with the economy than with tech

Universal child care can harm children

Its growing popularity in America is a concern

Investors are telling Britain to cheer up a bit

The country’s economic problems are real, but its assets are doing surprisingly well

How Donald Trump can dodge a Supreme Court tariff block

No matter its ruling, the president has back-up powers

The mystery of China’s slumping investment

Its leaders don’t seem concerned. Should they be?

Why Wall Street won’t see the next crash coming

Even the best traders struggle to predict sudden jumps in volatility

The new globalisation paradox

In the age of Donald Trump, national autonomy requires deeper integration. Brazil shows why

Investors will help Jamaica recover from Hurricane Melissa

The country is in line for a pay-out from catastrophe bonds

India’s IPO boom is good news for its economy

Stockmarkets appear to be fuelling investment

A letter to investors from the White House Opportunities Fund

How the shift to state capitalism is panning out for America LLC

The end of the rip-off economy

From finance and medicine to used cars, artificial intelligence is radically improving market efficiency

China’s secret stockpiles have been a great success—so far

Xi Jinping is desperate for Trump-proof access to food, fuels and metals