Robert Guest

Donald Trump thinks he’s winning on trade, but America will lose The harm from tariffs will be lasting and deep

Terrific leader in The Economist this week: www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

Across the rich world, politicians decry the dysfunction of the global asylum system. Might this be the least bad way to fix it? econ.st/4lX8x4m

Photo: WFP/Julian Civiero

What if America’s red states are about to lose their cheap-housing advantage? People move to the sunbelt for affordable homes. But it is getting harder to build there

What if America’s red states are about to lose their cheap-housing advantage?
economist.com/united-state...
from The Economist

The global asylum system is falling apart What should replace it?

There is nothing wrong with seeking a better life. But when jobseekers and refugees crowd into the same funnel, malign consequences follow. Here is how the world’s asylum system could be redesigned

In war, incentives matter more than courage Economics is a useful tool for understanding conflict, as a new book shows

In war, incentives matter more than courage
economist.com/culture/2025...
from The Economist

The TV shows people risk death to watch Why fluffy, glossy K-dramas tempt North Koreans to brave the firing squad

The TV shows people risk death to watch
economist.com/culture/2025...
from The Economist

The stunning decline of the preference for having boys Millions of girls were aborted for being girls. Now parents often lean towards them

The stunning decline of the preference for having boys
economist.com/leaders/2025...
from The Economist

America’s tax on foreign investors could do more damage than tariffs Provisions in the Republican budget are a dangerous step

America’s tax on foreign investors could do more damage than tariffs
economist.com/leaders/2025...
from The Economist

Why the best time to be a dad is now The bloody history of fatherhood bends towards co-parenting

Why the best time to be a dad is now
economist.com/culture/2025...
from The Economist

Europe’s free-speech problem J.D. Vance was right

Europe’s free-speech problem
economist.com/leaders/2025...
from The Economist

How golden ages really start—and end The greatest civilisations of the past 3,000 years were the opposite of MAGA

How golden ages really start—and end
economist.com/culture/2025...
from The Economist

State capture is a growing threat. Reversing it is hard The 15-70-15 rule and other ways to prise powerful fingers from the public coffers

Reversing state capture is hard. Just ask South Africa, Bangladesh or Poland. Far better not to let it take root in the first place.
economist.com/internationa...
from The Economist

Donald Trump has committed the most profound, harmful and unnecessary economic error in the modern era. Almost everything he said—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was utterly deluded econ.st/3YbbFjq

Is Elon Musk remaking America’s government, or breaking it? There are three possible outcomes for DOGE econ.st/42bGqGf

The judges Trump scorns should stand their ground The rule of law is at stake

The judges Trump scorns should stand their ground
economist.com/leaders/2025...
from The Economist

The best way to curb the cruelty of the world’s worst regimes First get your facts straight, argues Kenneth Roth, a top human-rights campaigner

The best way to curb the cruelty of the world’s worst regimes
economist.com/culture/2025...
from The Economist

What a front cover...

Tyler Cowen, the man who wants to know everything He is Silicon Valley’s favourite economist. Does his lust for knowledge have a place in the age of AI?

www.economist.com/1843/2025/02...

This is the best podcast I have heard in a long long time.
It's so good to be addicted to a series again... even though it also leaves me also shocked and horrified.

Rwanda does a Putin in Congo To understand the seizure of Goma, consider a parallel with Ukraine

Rwanda does a Putin in Congo
www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
from The Economist

Glitch. Probably related to the fact that the phrase Amazon dot com appeared in the title of the article

In Putin’s new Russian economy, even a harmless digital retailer can attract the attention of warlords
www.economist.com/1843/2025/01...
from The Economist

To make electricity cheaper and greener, connect the world’s grids Less than 3% of the world’s power is internationally traded—a huge wasted opportunity

Why most countries should import more electricity
www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
from The Economist

America has an imperial presidency And in Donald Trump, an imperialist president for the first time in over a century

How Donald Trump draws on ideas from 1897
www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
from The Economist

Donald Trump cries “invasion” to justify an immigration crackdown His first immigration executive orders range from benign to belligerent

Good summary of Donald Trump’s extraordinary list of immigration curbs, including the flagrantly unconstitutional
www.economist.com/united-state...
from The Economist

Inside the Houthis’ moneymaking machine After a ceasefire in Gaza, they may continue their Red Sea racket

The awful economics of piracy: the Houthis make $2bn a year by extorting money from shippers, while inflicting $200bn of costs on the world.
www.economist.com/interactive/...
from The Economist

TikTok’s time is up. Can Donald Trump save it? The imperilled app hopes for help from an old foe

TikTok’s time is up. Can Donald Trump save it?
www.economist.com/business/202...
from The Economist

The capitalist revolution Africa needs The world’s poorest continent should embrace its least fashionable idea

To catch up, Africa needs a capitalist revolution. Wonderfully argued cover story in this week’s Economist
www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
from The Economist

An American purchase of Greenland could be the deal of the century Donald Trump’s threat of force is unwise. Instead, he should name a price

Outrageous for Trump to threaten force. But for America to buy Greenland might actually be good for Greenlanders
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
from The Economist

Women warriors and the war on woke Trump’s Pentagon pick wants women off the battlefield

I wrote this week on Pete Hegseth's contention that women should not serve in combat. I look at the evidence from the past decade, including various experiments & studies. In practice, only tiny numbers of women are ever likely to serve in the infantry.
www.economist.com/internationa...