Time for fresh thinking about the changing economics of geography Populism's wave has yet to crest. That is the sobering lesson of recent elections in Germany and Austria, where the success of anti-immigrant, anti-globalization parties showed that a message of hostility to elites and outsiders resonates as strongly as ever among those fed up with the status quo. It is also the lesson from Americ..
Canada's Liberal government is starting to make mistakes and suffer mishaps To oppose the government of Justin Trudeau has been no fun. Canada's prime minister has shrugged off controversies that would have hurt a less charismatic politician. Few Canadians seemed to mind when he accepted a helicopter ride from the Aga Khan to holiday on his private island in the Bahamas; most yawned when the gov..
Do not expect Mr Xi to change China, or the world, for the better American presidents have a habit of describing their Chinese counterparts in terms of awe. A fawning Richard Nixon said to Mao Zedong that the chairman's writings had "changed the world". To Jimmy Carter, Deng Xiaoping was a string of flattering adjectives: "smart, tough, intelligent, frank, courageous, personable, self-assured, f..
Yet the huge man at the head of the column, flanked by two knights in the snow-white cloaks of the Kingsguard, seemed almost a stranger to Ned ... until he vaulted off the back of his warhorse with a familiar roar, and crushed him in a bone-crunching hug.
North Korea highlights a faultline in the world's business architecture Wars are fought with weapons, but also with money. To understand the global balance of power in the coming decades, it helps to pay attention to the commercial subplot of the North Korean crisis. For the first time, America is attempting to use its full legal and financial might to change the behavior of Chinese companies an..
Would that Ned had been able to say the same. Fifteen years past, when they had ridden forth to win a throne, the Lord of Storm's End had been clean-shaven, clear-eyed, and muscled like a maiden's fantasy. Six and a half feet tall, he towered over lesser men, and when he donned his armor and the great antlered helmet of his House, he became a veritable giant.
Since the night they had stood side by side in Greyjoy’s fallen stronghold, where Robert had accepted the rebel lord's surrender and Ned had taken his son Theon as hostage and ward, the king had gained at least eight stone. A beard as coarse and black as iron wire covered his jaw to hide his double chin and the sag of the royal jowls, but noting could hide his stomach or the dark circles under h..
Goldman Sags For the first time, the famous investment bank has more of a business than an image problem By Tradition, Goldman Sachs makes risky financial wagers and stays icy cool under pressure. A bad trade on Treasury bonds in 1986 almost killed it, but was eventually cauterized. The firm's "big short" in early 2007, when it bet that subprime securities would tumble, helped it to book profits..
To avoid calamity, ask Catalans what they really want When a democracy sends riot police to beat old ladies over the head with batons and stop them voting, something has gone badly wrong. Catalans say that almost 900 people were hurt by police in the referendum for independence on October 1st. Whatever the provocation from Catalan leaders in staging an unconstitutional poll, the reaction of Mari..
Luxembourg's "comfort letter" to Amazon was illegal, says the EU Margrethe Vestager's assault on technology firms she deems to have improperly massaged down their tax bills continued this week with a tilt at Amazon. The internet retailer faces a bill of €250m ($293m) for back taxes over what the European Union's competition commissioner considers to have been an illegal sweetheart deal with Luxe..
A massacre sends clerics in different directions Since the horrific massacre in Las Vegas, the word "evil" has been heard with unusual frequency, on the lips of political leaders as well as clerics. This evil-talk is not just a reflex response or a banal statement of the obvious. It has philosophical implications, and often places the speaker in a particular corner of the debate about guns. In t..