2022-02-06-Economist Graphs
1. The world this week
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2. Leaders
2.1 How high will central banks go?: Interest rates may have to rise sharply to fight inflation
But the low-rate era is unlikely to come to a permanent end
2.2 Statistically significant: The Economist’s election modelling should cheer Emmanuel Macron
France’s president has a 79% chance of keeping his job
2.3 An icy chasm: Beijing’s Winter Olympics symbolise a world divided
The West has rightly concluded that buttering up China will not make it nicer
2.4 Free speech’s new frontier: What Spotify should learn from the Joe Rogan affair
The content-moderation wars have come to audio
2.5 Wrong man, wrong plan: The British government’s white paper on “levelling up” falls short
It fails to devolve enough power and money
3. Letters
3.1 On vaccine protests, the BBC, curling, quadratic voting, tipping: Letters to the editor
A selection of correspondence
4. Briefing
4.1 Turning Japanese: Why the world is saving too much money for its own good
And why the pandemic is unlikely to change that
5. Europe
5.1 A four-in-five chance: Emmanuel Macron is highly likely to be re-elected as France’s president
The Economist’s election model derives probabilities from the polls and past experience
5.2 Blood hype: Why Ukraine’s president is talking down the threat from Russia
Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for calm rubs America the wrong way
5.3 Who’s next?: As Russia menaces Ukraine, eastern European countries grow nervous
Even relatively friendly countries in the region mistrust Russian expansionism
5.4 Caucasian thaw: The Turkey-Armenia relationship is thawing
But normalisation will not mean reconciliation
5.5 Charlemagne: Southern Europe is reforming itself
The old PIGS are airborne, even as northern countries fall to earth
6. Britain
6.1 Levelling up: The British government’s “levelling up” plans are oddly old-fashioned
Targets, targets everywhere
6.2 Digging deep: A quixotic plan to roll back EU law
It risks greater executive power, and confusion in court
6.3 HP v Autonomy: Mike Lynch has lost Britain’s biggest fraud case
As extradition to America looms, he will not be the only one with regrets
6.4 To infinity and beyond: The government is promising to tackle the NHS backlog
Without proper workforce planning, it will fail
6.5 Scrolling through: The laws are being removed from Parliament
The symbolism is unfortunate; the rationale is sound
6.6 The pandemic generation: Some British children have been changed by covid-19, probably for good
Strangers to mathematics, and to sex
6.7 Bagehot: Sue Gray delivers a first report on those Downing Street parties
Every part of the British establishment has debased itself
7. Middle East & Africa
7.1 Rise and shine: The president of Egypt does a U-turn on economic policy
Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi suddenly wants to empower the private sector
7.2 Grains of wrath: How tensions in Ukraine could rile Egypt
A disruption in the wheat market would cause serious harm to the biggest Arab country
7.3 Pushers and putschists: Guinea-Bissau sees off an attempted coup
The president says it was linked to the powerful drug trade
7.4 Pipe dreams: A big Ugandan oil project is progressing at last
But in a world moving away from oil, does it still make sense?
7.5 A continuing horror: Child rape is far too common in some war-torn African countries
Trauma, social breakdown and impunity all seem to play a role
8. United States
8.1 “Freedom First”: Why Florida is lurching to the right
Ron DeSantis uses his state as a peninsula podium to advertise his policies
8.2 Preschool education: A new study finds preschool can be detrimental to children
But the picture may not be as gloomy as it seems
8.3 Abortion by mail in America: A safe and simple abortion option becomes more readily available
If the Supreme Court ends Roe, the benefits of abortion-by-mail will be even more obvious
8.4 Drought victim: The loneliness of the desert tortoise
A once-abundant species struggles to survive
8.5 Crypto and the far right: The charm of cryptocurrencies for white supremacists
White power, dark money
8.6 The US census: America is stagnating—demographically, that is
A decline in birth rate and immigration is making the country more European
8.7 Lexington: America is uniting against Vladimir Putin
Republicans are playing a more constructive role in the Ukraine crisis than Donald Trump must like
9. The Americas
9.1 Aiding and abetting: Foreign aid has done little to help Haiti
By avoiding giving the government money, donors undermine it
9.2 A populist turn: Erin O’Toole is voted out as Canada’s Conservative leader
A week after protests in Ottawa, it suggests that a new kind of right wing is ascendant
9.3 Bello: Argentina’s Peronists squabble over an agreement with the IMF
Even after two years of negotiations, the government still has a way to go
10. Asia
10.1 Out of office: South-East Asia’s tourism industry is hobbled by uncertainty
Labour shortages and changing border rules are causing chaos for businesses
10.2 Forest grumps: India’s government and its greens disagree on what counts as forest
An official report includes plantations and parks in its measure
10.3 A nation of holdouts: Papua New Guinea’s vaccination rate is only 3.3%
Online misinformation, like covid-19, reaches even the remotest places
10.4 New year fireworks: What is behind North Korea’s flurry of missile tests?
Kim Jong Un fired more rockets in January than any month on record
10.5 Mujin tonic: Japan is searching for the secrets to healthy old age
Living longer is of little use if the extra years are spent in bed
10.6 Banyan: Myanmar’s generals have a dubious role model in Thailand
One’s stagnation is better than the other’s disintegration, but that is a low bar
11. China
11.1 Virtual state of control: Building a metaverse with Chinese characteristics
The Communist Party may see it as an area it can beat the West
11.2 Not home for the holidays: Chinese New Year is disrupted for a third year
And the economy is feeling the pinch
11.3 Chaguan: Nixon’s visit to China, 50 years on
Eye-witnesses from 1972 offer their views of a relationship in bad shape
12. International
12.1 Just keep us alive: Covid-19 has pushed governments to find new ways to help the poor
Even some of the least developed countries are experimenting
13. Business
13.1 We’re hiring: How America’s talent wars are reshaping business
The labour shortages are forcing firms to get creative
13.2 Depopulation pressure: How German companies court employees
The pandemic has exacerbated the long-term problem of a shrinking workforce
13.3 The hills are alive: China’s ski industry faces an avalanche of risks
Developers have ploughed mountains of money into the snow business. Will it melt away?
13.4 Don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone: Spotify, Joe Rogan and the Wild West of online audio
Streamers look increasingly like social media, but without the content controls
13.5 Bartleby: Body language in the post-pandemic workplace
Much of the research into non-verbal communication is now redundant
13.6 Schumpeter: How Sony can make a comeback in the console wars
It could be an Epic battle
14. Finance & economics
14.1 The urge to splurge: Why the impressive pace of investment growth looks likely to endure
Supply chains, technological change and climate targets will all demand more capital spending in the 2020s
14.2 Taking aim: America prepares the “mother of all sanctions” against Russia
How much would they hurt?
14.3 A slippery patch: OPEC grapples with a precariously balanced oil market
Geopolitical drama and a tight market mean that a price of $100 per barrel could be on the cards
14.4 The bill balloons: The global interest bill is about to jump
The world paid $10trn in interest last year. As rates begin to rise, we work out where the bill might go
14.5 The tiger roars: Why India’s stockmarket is roaring
After a desultory decade, profits are expected to surge
14.6 Buttonwood: Why stockmarket jitters have not so far spread to the credit market
Bond-holders tend to be less starry-eyed than stock investors. Still, there are reasons to be watchful
14.7 Free exchange: China may soon become a high-income country
Has it truly escaped the middle-income trap?
15. Science & technology
15.1 Faster, higher, stronger: Why space is about to enter its nuclear age
Fission-powered engines would make satellites speedier and more manoeuvrable
15.2 Scientific publishing: Preprints on the coronavirus have been impressively reliable
The case for publishing in expensive, restrictive scientific journals continues to weaken
15.3 Trypanophobics rejoice!: A new way to deliver delicate drugs, no jabbing required
It will be a relief for anyone who has a distaste for needles
15.4 Climate change: Targeting methane “ultra-emitters” could cheaply slow climate change
Patching up leaky oil-and-gas works across the world would be a good place to start
16. Culture
16.1 The megaphone and the muzzle: A history of free expression charts its seesawing progress
Repression leads to liberalisation and vice versa, says Jacob Mchangama
16.2 The undiscovered country: “This Mortal Coil” is a surprisingly upbeat history of death
Andrew Doig’s study of how people die is a story of human ingenuity
16.3 The house always wins: Wall Street was the real winner of the GameStop saga
Says Spencer Jakab in “The Revolution That Wasn’t”
16.4 World in a dish: Lucky new-year foods embody a benign view of good fortune
Steam a fish for abundance, and make sure there are leftovers
16.5 Playground culture: Covid-19 has given children new words and ideas to play with
The pandemic has made play at once more modern and more old-fashioned
16.6 Back Story: “Taras Bulba” and the tragedy of Russia and Ukraine
Literature offers a better way to think about their vexed relations
17. Economic & financial indicators
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18. Graphic detail
18.1 Elysian stakes: How we forecast the French election
We reveal our statistical model—and how it works
19. Obituary
19.1 To sea in a barrel: Jean-Jacques Savin wanted to defy old age
The intrepid adventurer died on January 21st while rowing solo across the Atlantic, aged 75
