Economy
Our coverage of global economics, from inflation-fighting central banks to apprehensive financial markets
Data
American consumers are finally cheering up
Much to the relief of Joe Biden
The world’s richest countries in 2023
Our ranking compares economies in three different ways
These are the world’s most expensive cities
EIU’s cost-of-living index shows where prices are highest
Which city is the cheapest in the world?
The cost of living there is a little over a tenth of what it is in New York
What Donald Trump can learn from the Big Mac index
Should the presidential candidate go on another crusade against the yuan?
The US economy
Trumponomics would not be as bad as most expect
Opposition would come from all angles
America’s banks are more exposed to a downturn than they appear
To understand why, consider the ouroboros theory of financial risk
American stocks are consuming global markets
That does not necessarily spell trouble
McDonald’s v Burger King: what a price war means for inflation
American consumers will be licking their lips. So will Federal Reserve officials
What to make of Joe Biden’s plans for a second term
His domestic agenda is underwhelming, unrealistic and better than the alternative
Will services make the world rich?
American fried chicken can now be served from the Philippines
China’s economy
Chinese firms are growing rapidly in the global south
Western firms beware
China’s last boomtowns show rapid growth is still possible
All it takes is for the state to work with the market
China unveils its new economic vision
It promises many reforms, but remains ambivalent about the role of the market
Why is Xi Jinping building secret commodity stockpiles?
Vast new holdings of grain, natural gas and oil suggest trouble ahead
Xi Jinping really is unshakeably committed to the private sector
He balances that with being unshakeably committed to state-owned enterprises, too
Why Chinese banks are now vanishing
The state is struggling to deal with troubled institutions
Russia’s economy
How Vladimir Putin created a housing bubble
Prices have risen by 172% in Russia’s biggest cities over the past three years
European banks are making heady profits in Russia
But for how much longer?
Russia’s gas business will never recover from the war in Ukraine
Hopes of a Chinese rescue look increasingly vain
Frozen Russian assets will soon pay for Ukraine’s war
And America now hopes to convince others to make better use of the stash
How a Russia-linked mine may keep the ANC in power
South Africa’s ruling party was broke a few months ago, but its fortunes are changing
Asia’s economies
Chinese firms are growing rapidly in the global south
Western firms beware
India’s economic policy will not make it rich
A new World Bank report takes aim at emerging-market growth plans
Japan’s mind-bending bento-box economics
The paradox of red-hot labour markets, falling demand and rising prices
Narendra Modi needs to win over low-income Indians
They are dissatisfied with their share of the country’s growth
Boom times are back for container shipping
Can they last?
Indian state capitalism looks to be in trouble
A weakened Narendra Modi is bad news for investors in government-controlled firms
Europe’s economies
EU handouts have long been wasteful. Now they must be fixed
New research highlights their failures
Is Britain’s economy finally moving?
Sticky inflation and a weakening job market could still spoil the mood
Ukraine has a month to avoid default
Lending to a borrower at war entails an additional gamble: that it will win
Is the revival of Paris in peril?
The French election threatens a remarkable commercial renaissance
Keir Starmer should be Britain’s next prime minister
Why Labour must form the next government
European millionaires seek a safe harbour from populism
Many are fleeing to the Gulf—never mind war next door