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The Economist: News analysis and views

July 28, 2010
15:14
High executioners
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pChina executes many more people than anywhere else. Changes to its laws may reduce a grim total/ppCHINA executes more of its own citizens than any other country, and more than all others in the world combined. #8220;Thousands#8221; of Chinese were executed in 2009 according to Amnesty International's annual study, which states that an exact number is impossible to determine because information on the death penalty is regarded as a state secret. But this gruesome record may yet change. The National People's Congress is reported to be reducing the number of offences that are punishable by execution. Among the crimes that currently carry the death penalty are bribing an official and stealing historical relics./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=PAhAe30b8tU:ngxGnGCuIps:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=PAhAe30b8tU:ngxGnGCuIps:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=PAhAe30b8tU:ngxGnGCuIps:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=PAhAe30b8tU:ngxGnGCuIps:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=PAhAe30b8tU:ngxGnGCuIps:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=PAhAe30b8tU:ngxGnGCuIps:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/PAhAe30b8tU" height="1" width="1"/
July 27, 2010
14:44
Golden parachutes
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pBosses who walked away with large payouts/ppON TUESDAY July 27th BP announced its chief executive, Tony Hayward, was stepping down after just three years in the job. He leaves with a year#8217;s salary, GBP1m ($1.6m), and a pension reported to be worth GBP11m, accrued over 28 years of service. On the same day the company revealed a quarterly loss of GBP17 billion, reflecting the cost of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr Hayward has received criticism over his handling of the Deepwater Horizon spill. For all the opprobrium heaped on him over the last few months, Mr Hayward's payout is modest compared with those enjoyed by many similarly high-profile bosses./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=nrbaQb9cLh8:Nz2WEo50Kos:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=nrbaQb9cLh8:Nz2WEo50Kos:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=nrbaQb9cLh8:Nz2WEo50Kos:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=nrbaQb9cLh8:Nz2WEo50Kos:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=nrbaQb9cLh8:Nz2WEo50Kos:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=nrbaQb9cLh8:Nz2WEo50Kos:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/nrbaQb9cLh8" height="1" width="1"/
July 23, 2010
12:47
Making a meal of it
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pOur latest Big Mac index suggests the euro is still overvalued/ppCorrection to this article/ppTHE Big Mac index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP), according to which exchange rates should adjust to equalise the price of a basket of goods and services around the world. Our index shows that Asia remains the cheapest place to enjoy a burger, while those on the hunt for a value meal should steer clear of Scandinavia. The euro, despite its troubles, continues to be expensive when compared with many other rich-world currencies, though the British pound is trading close to its fair value. China's recent decision to increase the "flexibility" of the yuan has not made much difference yet#8212;the yuan is undervalued on the burger gauge by 48%. For more on the Big Mac index see article. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=GO-Vthdz_UY:rwXHh994IO4:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=GO-Vthdz_UY:rwXHh994IO4:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=GO-Vthdz_UY:rwXHh994IO4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=GO-Vthdz_UY:rwXHh994IO4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=GO-Vthdz_UY:rwXHh994IO4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=GO-Vthdz_UY:rwXHh994IO4:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/GO-Vthdz_UY" height="1" width="1"/
July 22, 2010
11:47
Status update
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pFacebook has become the third-largest nation/ppTHE world's largest social network announced that it had reached 500m members on Wednesday July 21st. If Facebook were a physical nation, it would now be the third-most populous on earth. And if the service continues to grow as rapidly as in the three months to July, it will reach one billion in about 15 months#8212;almost the size of India. Not least because of its gigantic population, some observers have started to talk of Facebook in terms of a country. #8220;[It] is a device that allows people to get together and control their own destiny, much like our nation-state,#8221; says David Post, a law professor at Temple University, Philadelphia. For more on social networks and statehood see article. /pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=NgiO5ejulr8:J2QZo8yCxf0:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=NgiO5ejulr8:J2QZo8yCxf0:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=NgiO5ejulr8:J2QZo8yCxf0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=NgiO5ejulr8:J2QZo8yCxf0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=NgiO5ejulr8:J2QZo8yCxf0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=NgiO5ejulr8:J2QZo8yCxf0:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/NgiO5ejulr8" height="1" width="1"/
July 21, 2010
12:18
Flying high in the east
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pAsian and Middle Eastern airlines#8217; share of the world#8217;s aircraft fleet is set to grow/ppBY THE third day of the Farnborough Airshow on Wednesday July 21st, aircraft-makers had announced new orders worth around $25 billion. A whopping $9 billion order for 40 Boeing 777s from Emirates highlighted the ambitious expansion plans of the Gulf#8217;s airlines. Analysis by Ascend, an aerospace consultancy, shows that the Middle Eastern airlines#8217; fleets have more than doubled in the past ten years. They have placed orders for over 1,000 new aircraft for delivery by 2020#8212;or 14% of the industry#8217;s entire order book. Even so, the Asian airlines, especially China#8217;s, will be the planemakers#8217; biggest customers in the coming decade. By 2020, the North American and European airlines will no longer dominate the skies to the extent they do now. /pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Xk-45r3hibE:Gus8SYoqDqM:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Xk-45r3hibE:Gus8SYoqDqM:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=Xk-45r3hibE:Gus8SYoqDqM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Xk-45r3hibE:Gus8SYoqDqM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=Xk-45r3hibE:Gus8SYoqDqM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Xk-45r3hibE:Gus8SYoqDqM:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/Xk-45r3hibE" height="1" width="1"/
July 20, 2010
12:57
Trouble on oiled waters
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pDeepwater Horizon may be the world's biggest accidental oil spill/ppPRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA meets Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, for talks in Washington on July 20th. The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and allegations over the company's involvement in an #8220;oil-for-terrorists#8221; deal with Libya are likely to be on the agenda. BP is under pressure to satisfy government officials that the containment cap placed on the leaking well on July 15th is holding. Using the government task force's upper estimate, as many as 4.4m barrels of oil have escaped into the Gulf. This would make it the largest accidental oil spill in history (military attacks have created far bigger spills). Despite that, this quantity of refined oil is enough to keep America's cars and trucks on the road for just a quarter of a day. BP has spent almost $4 billion on clean-up costs to date, with the eventual total estimated at $39 billion./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=los0YrLCuUE:0Pi09N35lYU:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=los0YrLCuUE:0Pi09N35lYU:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=los0YrLCuUE:0Pi09N35lYU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=los0YrLCuUE:0Pi09N35lYU:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=los0YrLCuUE:0Pi09N35lYU:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=los0YrLCuUE:0Pi09N35lYU:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/los0YrLCuUE" height="1" width="1"/
July 19, 2010
13:16
Tours and Triomphe
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pIs the Tour de France getting easier?/ppTHE 97th Tour de France finishes on Sunday July 25th in Paris after 3,642km (2,263 miles) of cycling over 21 gruelling days. Although this year's route is regarded by many as particularly tough, it could be considered a mere jaunt through the sunflowers compared to earlier Tours. When the first race was staged in 1903 riders cycled 2,428km over six stages. But distances rapidly climbed to reach a peak of 5,745km in 1926, with the winner completing the race in 238 hours and 44 minutes at an average speed of 24.3km/h. Since then the length of the Tour has fallen steadily but the average speed of the winner has risen to around 40km/h./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=OeCVKeAu3IM:ryYs061KOI0:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=OeCVKeAu3IM:ryYs061KOI0:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=OeCVKeAu3IM:ryYs061KOI0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=OeCVKeAu3IM:ryYs061KOI0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=OeCVKeAu3IM:ryYs061KOI0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=OeCVKeAu3IM:ryYs061KOI0:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/OeCVKeAu3IM" height="1" width="1"/
July 16, 2010
10:43
Alien invasions
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pThe share of foreign-born labour in rich countries/ppAS ECONOMIES across the developed world fell into recession in 2008, legal permanent immigration to the mostly rich members of the OECD declined by 6%, after five years during which growth averaged 11%. Despite the slowdown in the arrival of new migrants, the number of foreign-born workers in most OECD countries rose in 2008 from a year earlier. In 2007 one in every four workers in Australia was born abroad; in 2008 that share rose further, to 26.5%. Among the 18 OECD countries for which 2008 data are available, the share of the foreign-born in the labour force fell only in Luxembourg (not shown), Austria, Belgium and France. The number of foreign-born workers in America rose by 308,000 in 2008, to 25.1m./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=mXsxQ7aPAcY:FXVk29esQK4:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=mXsxQ7aPAcY:FXVk29esQK4:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=mXsxQ7aPAcY:FXVk29esQK4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=mXsxQ7aPAcY:FXVk29esQK4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=mXsxQ7aPAcY:FXVk29esQK4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=mXsxQ7aPAcY:FXVk29esQK4:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/mXsxQ7aPAcY" height="1" width="1"/
July 15, 2010
14:57
Authorised personnel only
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pWho restricts travel for people with HIV/ppTHERE are some 33m people living with HIV in the world today, estimates UNAIDS, the United Nations agency charged with combating the disease and supporting the rights of those affected. Travel restrictions are one type of discrimination these people can face. In the past year, both China and America have lifted 20-odd-year bans stopping individuals with HIV from entering, but 51 countries still restrict movement in some form (be it entry to the country or a stay therein) based on a person's HIV status. Our tables show those countries applying the severest restrictions to HIV sufferers, including the denial of entry visas and even deportation. Many countries in the Middle East impose strict restrictions#8212;and also report among the lowest HIV prevalence rates./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=S-mfg8QyAbA:cxXbIp11OjE:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=S-mfg8QyAbA:cxXbIp11OjE:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=S-mfg8QyAbA:cxXbIp11OjE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=S-mfg8QyAbA:cxXbIp11OjE:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=S-mfg8QyAbA:cxXbIp11OjE:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=S-mfg8QyAbA:cxXbIp11OjE:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/S-mfg8QyAbA" height="1" width="1"/
July 14, 2010
16:29
The green suits
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pThe economics of biodiversity and business/ppWhile climate scientists lament the fact that their flagship compendia, such as the IPCC reports, come under endless attack, scientists working on other environmental issues would love such high-profile pronouncements, even if they came with a similar cost. IPCC-envy was one of the rationales for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, published in 2005, and it is the main impetus behind the current development of an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. When the equally inelegantly named TEEB process (it stands for The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) was set up at the G8+5 meeting in Potsdam in 2007 its political patrons had a clear model in mind. They hoped that just as Lord Stern#8217;s review of the economics of climate change, published in 2006, firmed resolve for action among governments and helped set in motion the processes that led to last year#8217;s Copenhagen climate conference, so this new report should encourage a more serious global approach to the costs that damaged and dysfunctional ecosystems impose on people./ppIt#8217;s worth noting that this approach implicitly assumes, as do many people, that the point of the IPCC and such endeavours is to find reasons for action, rather than dispassionately to assess the issue. Another caveat is that, as far as the climate is concerned, big and well publicised reports have manifestly not delivered the goods in terms of what UN negotiators call #8220;environmental integrity#8221;#8212;producing actions that really do reduce emissions. But that does not mean that the TEEB process is either propagandistic or pointless. Treating the services provided by ecosystems as part of the economy is a good idea, and the various ways in which their value can be sustained, or even enhanced, deserve study. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=I1p0NdEvsFc:4yCDB7rv4-I:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=I1p0NdEvsFc:4yCDB7rv4-I:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=I1p0NdEvsFc:4yCDB7rv4-I:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=I1p0NdEvsFc:4yCDB7rv4-I:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=I1p0NdEvsFc:4yCDB7rv4-I:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=I1p0NdEvsFc:4yCDB7rv4-I:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/I1p0NdEvsFc" height="1" width="1"/
12:11
Quality of death
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pA ranking of care for the dying by country/ppCUSTOMER-satisfaction surveys are, alas, unsuitable for rating the quality of death. So the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister group to The Economist, has devised a ranking of end-of-life care, published on Wednesday July 14th. It rates 40 mostly rich countries by how well they care for the dying. Britain tops the table. For all the health care system's faults, British doctors tend to be honest about prognoses, the mortally ill get plentiful pain killers and a well-established hospice movement cares for people near death. Countries such as Denmark and Finland rank lower because they concentrate more on preventing death than on helping people die without suffering pain, discomfort and distress./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=C_5uUj3SBQY:L_3gqsAJCDw:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=C_5uUj3SBQY:L_3gqsAJCDw:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=C_5uUj3SBQY:L_3gqsAJCDw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=C_5uUj3SBQY:L_3gqsAJCDw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=C_5uUj3SBQY:L_3gqsAJCDw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=C_5uUj3SBQY:L_3gqsAJCDw:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/C_5uUj3SBQY" height="1" width="1"/
July 07, 2010
13:42
Invest in China
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pAgricultural Bank of China's IPO may be the biggest in history/ppTHE initial public offering of Agricultural Bank of China, the country's third-largest bank, looks set to become the biggest IPO on record. On July 6th and 7th the bank raised a reported $19.2 billion in a dual listing on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges. If the bank takes up a further 15% allotment of shares, that would value the deal at a total of $22 billion, slightly more than the offering in another Chinese bank, ICBC, in 2006. In the 1990s telecommunications was the investors' choice but in the last decade the biggest IPOs have been mostly in the financial sector, and mainly of Chinese banks./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Pdx7yb_zCFQ:Ox2YlwKiEUc:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Pdx7yb_zCFQ:Ox2YlwKiEUc:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=Pdx7yb_zCFQ:Ox2YlwKiEUc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Pdx7yb_zCFQ:Ox2YlwKiEUc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=Pdx7yb_zCFQ:Ox2YlwKiEUc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Pdx7yb_zCFQ:Ox2YlwKiEUc:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/Pdx7yb_zCFQ" height="1" width="1"/
9:21
Too green to fail
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pWhen it comes to protected areas, less really can mean more/ppThomas Brooks, a biologist with NatureServe, a conservation group based in Arlington, Virginia, has long been fighting to preserve biodiversity in the Philippines. Quite often it can feel like a lost cause. Conservation efforts in the country have struggled against ever greater deforestation and decades of environmental neglect. You might think that, when Mr Brooks heard that the Philippine government is considering opening some of its protected areas to mining, it would have been the last straw. Instead, it was an occasion for hope. /ppAccording to Theresa Mundita Lim, Director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, who made the announcement at a meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nairobi, the move on mining is part of a larger strategy to improve how much biodiversity the government protects. By cutting spending on areas that are lower-priority and instead putting the money where it will be more effective in protecting nature, she hopes to get more impact out of the limited conservation funds available. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=BR8_bxKR11o:cYIshKFBy-4:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=BR8_bxKR11o:cYIshKFBy-4:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=BR8_bxKR11o:cYIshKFBy-4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=BR8_bxKR11o:cYIshKFBy-4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=BR8_bxKR11o:cYIshKFBy-4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=BR8_bxKR11o:cYIshKFBy-4:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/BR8_bxKR11o" height="1" width="1"/
July 06, 2010
15:12
After the gold rush
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pGold is not as expensive as it seems/ppFOR the past nine months, gold has been trading consistently over $1,000 an ounce. It reached a high of $1,259 on June 18th, up 35% from a year earlier. After adjusting for inflation, today#8217;s heady prices are some way off the 1980s mania. The 2010 yearly average of $1,154 is still 29% below the inflation-adjusted price in 1980 of $1,623. Perhaps now is the time to sell. After the January 1980 peak, the price fell by 55% over the following two years. /pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=j84algHERQY:3Epe3d28Qsc:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=j84algHERQY:3Epe3d28Qsc:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=j84algHERQY:3Epe3d28Qsc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=j84algHERQY:3Epe3d28Qsc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=j84algHERQY:3Epe3d28Qsc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=j84algHERQY:3Epe3d28Qsc:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/j84algHERQY" height="1" width="1"/
July 05, 2010
14:39
Leaders of the fee world
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pHow much a country's leader is paid compared to GDP per person/ppON MONDAY July 5th Raila Odinga, Kenya's prime minister, rejected the pay increase he was awarded by the country's parliament last week. MPs had granted Mr Odinga a rise to nearly $430,000 a year, while giving themselves a 25% increase to $161,000. This boost would place Mr Odinga among the highest-paid political leaders in the world. More worryingly, his salary would be some 240 times greater than the country's GDP per person (measured on a purchasing-power parity basis). Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of Singapore, tops our list of selected leaders' salaries. He is paid more than 40 times the city-state#8217;s GDP per person. At the other end of the scale, Manmohan Singh, the prime minister of India, reaffirms his reputation for saintliness by taking a modest sum from Indian taxpayers./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=5Xvlstv2Q3U:rCVzpN5rZsY:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=5Xvlstv2Q3U:rCVzpN5rZsY:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=5Xvlstv2Q3U:rCVzpN5rZsY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=5Xvlstv2Q3U:rCVzpN5rZsY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=5Xvlstv2Q3U:rCVzpN5rZsY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=5Xvlstv2Q3U:rCVzpN5rZsY:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/5Xvlstv2Q3U" height="1" width="1"/
9:48
Dead-ammonite bounce
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pLife recovered from its worst extinction much faster than previously realised/ppTHE dinosaurs went out with a bang. Most palaeontologists agree that those creatures and much of the rest of Mesozoic life ended when the Earth collided with an asteroid or a comet 65m years ago. But the Mesozoic, too, began with a mass extinction. Some 251m years ago, the efluvia of Siberian volcanoes wiped out 95% of life in the seas, and almost as much on the land, in an episode known as the Great Dying. This was the end of the Permian period, and of the era of life called the Palaeozoic. The survivors regrouped, re-evolved and turned into the Mesozoic species that led eventually to the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, ammonites and belemnites that generations of fossil hunters are familiar with./ppHow that regrouping happened will be the topic of a presentation by Hugo Bucher, the director of the Palaeontological Institute at the University of Zurich, at the Third International Palaeontological Congress in London on July 3rd. According to Dr Bucher, it occurred faster than anyone had previously thought, but also stuttered on the way as the volcanic activity waxed and waned. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=N-geaTNLtWo:lSAJPh8hZ5A:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=N-geaTNLtWo:lSAJPh8hZ5A:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=N-geaTNLtWo:lSAJPh8hZ5A:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=N-geaTNLtWo:lSAJPh8hZ5A:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=N-geaTNLtWo:lSAJPh8hZ5A:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=N-geaTNLtWo:lSAJPh8hZ5A:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/N-geaTNLtWo" height="1" width="1"/
July 04, 2010
18:38
The week ahead
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pIsrael's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, visits Barack Obama in Washington/pp#8226; ISRAEL'S prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is set to travel to Washington for a meeting with Barack Obama on Tuesday July 6th. Mr Netanyahu#8217;s previous date with America#8217;s president at the beginning of June was postponed after Israeli forces killed nine people in a raid on a boat attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade. Mr Obama will be keen to find a way to encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders to begin direct talks again. Face-to-face negotiations were suspended in December 2008 after Israel#8217;s deadly offensive against Gaza intended to stop rocket attacks from the territory. In a sign of a thawing of relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Ehud Barak, the country#8217;s defence minister, said that he would shortly meet Salam Fayyad, the PA#8217;s prime minister./pp#8226; THE lower house of France#8217;s parliament begins debate on Tuesday July 6th over the controversial issue of banning women from wearing full Muslim veils in public before a vote likely to be held the following week. A burqa ban, which has the backing of President Nicolas Sarkozy, is also winning support in other parts of Europe. Belgium#8217;s lower house has approved a similar measure and Spain Senate recently narrowly voted to impose a ban too. But the Council of Europe, an institution that oversees the human rights of Europeans, has voted unanimously to oppose any national bans on the burqa in EU countries. It also called on Switzerland to reverse its ban on the construction of minarets. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=4FhZ1Jz2WYQ:v1QCntLSuSk:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=4FhZ1Jz2WYQ:v1QCntLSuSk:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=4FhZ1Jz2WYQ:v1QCntLSuSk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=4FhZ1Jz2WYQ:v1QCntLSuSk:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=4FhZ1Jz2WYQ:v1QCntLSuSk:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=4FhZ1Jz2WYQ:v1QCntLSuSk:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/4FhZ1Jz2WYQ" height="1" width="1"/
July 02, 2010
12:35
Intelligence tested
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pInfectious disease may explain why some countries have cleverer populations/ppHUMAN intelligence is higher, on average, in some places than in others. And researchers at the University of New Mexico have come up with an explanation, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. Comparing the average IQ in a particular country with its disease burden (based on the reduction in life expectancy caused by 28 infectious diseases) reveals a striking correlation. At the bottom of the IQ list is Equatorial Guinea, followed by St Lucia, with Cameroon, Mozambique and Gabon tied for third last. These countries also have among the highest burdens of infectious diseases. At the opposite end of the scale, Singapore, South Korea, China and Japan show the highest intelligence scores and relatively low levels of disease. America, Britain and a number of European countries also place in the top left-hand corner of the chart. For more on this, see article./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=cKl87RIAEHg:C3lbfrlX990:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=cKl87RIAEHg:C3lbfrlX990:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=cKl87RIAEHg:C3lbfrlX990:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=cKl87RIAEHg:C3lbfrlX990:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=cKl87RIAEHg:C3lbfrlX990:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=cKl87RIAEHg:C3lbfrlX990:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/cKl87RIAEHg" height="1" width="1"/
July 01, 2010
13:27
Ploughing on
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pThe rich world's farmers are still reaping handsome subsidies /ppFARMERS are getting by with fewer subsidies in many countries around the world compared with 20 years ago. Yet subsidies still accounted for more than three-quarters of farmers#8217; incomes in Norway, Switzerland and Iceland between 2007 and 2009. And farm subsidies in the EU made up a slightly greater proportion of farmers' incomes in 2007-09 than two decades beforehand. OECD countries spent $253 billion on farm subsidies in 2009#8212;22% of gross farm receipts, the first increase since 2004. High agricultural commodity prices ensured payments slid, and reach a record low in 2008. Last year, this trend reversed as commodity prices fell. /pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=fhe626YJ92w:Zh4f7f08rAY:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=fhe626YJ92w:Zh4f7f08rAY:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=fhe626YJ92w:Zh4f7f08rAY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=fhe626YJ92w:Zh4f7f08rAY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=fhe626YJ92w:Zh4f7f08rAY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=fhe626YJ92w:Zh4f7f08rAY:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/fhe626YJ92w" height="1" width="1"/
June 30, 2010
13:36
Income inequality
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pBanks with the biggest profits and losses/ppEVERY year the Banker magazine publishes a ranking of the world's banks by profits, assets, losses and the like. The latest ranking confirms a shift in power towards banks based in emerging markets. Three Chinese banks make it on to the list of the 20 biggest banks. Agricultural Bank of China, which is about to embark on the world's biggest IPO, does not quite make the cut. Among the big losers of 2009, European banks, which bought so much toxic securitised sludge, are well represented. The two most profitable banks were Chinese, though what might be hiding on their balance-sheets is anyone's guess./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=2KUEEtm2dGg:IMi92AIVCkM:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=2KUEEtm2dGg:IMi92AIVCkM:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=2KUEEtm2dGg:IMi92AIVCkM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=2KUEEtm2dGg:IMi92AIVCkM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=2KUEEtm2dGg:IMi92AIVCkM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=2KUEEtm2dGg:IMi92AIVCkM:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/2KUEEtm2dGg" height="1" width="1"/
June 29, 2010
15:30
Pass the statins
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pHealth-care spending in rich countries/ppBETWEEN 2000 and 2008 health spending per person increased by 4.2% a year on average, according to the latest data from the OECD, a rich countries' club. Average spending over the same period was 8.4% of GDP; last decade the average was 7.3%. Technological change, population expectations and ageing populations, say the OECD, will continue to drive costs and spending even higher. In almost all countries, public expenditure accounts for the majority of health-care spending. It has increased from an average of 12% of total government spending in 1990 to a record 16% in 2008. Given the need to reduce budget deficits, governments will be looking to reduce health-care expenditure or increases taxes./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=i7LGm9QS5TU:1syp7JmSOOo:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=i7LGm9QS5TU:1syp7JmSOOo:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=i7LGm9QS5TU:1syp7JmSOOo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=i7LGm9QS5TU:1syp7JmSOOo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=i7LGm9QS5TU:1syp7JmSOOo:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=i7LGm9QS5TU:1syp7JmSOOo:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/i7LGm9QS5TU" height="1" width="1"/
13:52
The connected Arctic
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pA long way from anywhere, researchers are plugged into everywhere/ppNY ALESUND, a village devoted to scientific research on the island of Spitsbergen, in the high Arctic, seems about as isolated as it is possible to get. Beyond the confines of the village and its outstations, there is no sign of human beings; just snow, water, rock and scrawny soil. /ppTo the north, it#8217;s a straight trip to the pole. This is true everywhere, by definition, but from Ny Alesund the trip is shorter than from any other permanently inhabited settlement. To the west is Greenland (the most northerly, uninhabited bit), followed by Ellesmere Island (part of Canada), a lot of sometimes frozen ocean and some Russian islands before a humanity-free circumnavigation brings you back to Ny Alesund. To the south is everything else in the world, most of it a very long way off. The nearest city, Tromso, is more than 1,000km away, and hardly a metropolis. For four months a year even the sun does not make it to Ny Alesund. Before the 20th century, no one lived here, nor would anyone have wanted to. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Hxtzn9FaMp4:rhpiWIB2vrs:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Hxtzn9FaMp4:rhpiWIB2vrs:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=Hxtzn9FaMp4:rhpiWIB2vrs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Hxtzn9FaMp4:rhpiWIB2vrs:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=Hxtzn9FaMp4:rhpiWIB2vrs:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Hxtzn9FaMp4:rhpiWIB2vrs:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/Hxtzn9FaMp4" height="1" width="1"/
June 28, 2010
13:55
Evil cradlings
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pGilad Shalit's imprisonment compared with other long-held hostages/ppFOUR years after he was taken hostage, the family of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier being held by Hamas in Gaza, are showing their frustration by staging a sit-in outside the house of Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. Mr Shalit's sojourn with his captors has been lengthy but past hostages in the Middle East (and in Colombia) have been held for even longer. As an Israeli solider, Mr Shalit is seen somewhat differently to many long-term hostages. His captors point to the thousands of Palestinians being held in Israeli jails in their defence. Israel has come close to securing his release on a number of occasions as part of a prisoner exchange but thus far without success. /pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0dalXrA-52o:Eo-GYeq1bM4:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0dalXrA-52o:Eo-GYeq1bM4:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=0dalXrA-52o:Eo-GYeq1bM4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0dalXrA-52o:Eo-GYeq1bM4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=0dalXrA-52o:Eo-GYeq1bM4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0dalXrA-52o:Eo-GYeq1bM4:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/0dalXrA-52o" height="1" width="1"/
June 27, 2010
19:55
The week ahead
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pA trade pact will draw China and Taiwan closer togther/pp#8226; IMPROVING relations between China and Taiwan will get another boost with the signing of a groundbreaking free-trade pact by the end of June. Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan#8217;s president, was elected in 2008 on a platform that called for better ties with China. A free-trade pact with the mainland is the cornerstone of his cross-strait policies. Taiwan, already isolated diplomatically, feared commercial marginalisation when the effects of a free-trade agreement between China and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) begins to be felt later this year. Mr Ma has already overseen the establishment of direct flights and shipping routes across the 110-mile-wide Taiwan Strait./pp#8226;AMERICA'S Supreme Court is likely to hand down a decision involving the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 on Monday June 28th. The legislation, intended to tighten the auditing of public companies in the wake of the accounting scandals at Enron, WorldCom and Tyco, has been widely criticised for imposing costly and burdensome regulations on American businesses. The court will rule on the constitutionality of the board created to oversee independent audits of big companies. But firms may fear that if Sarbanes-Oxley is overturned a Congress on the brink of introducing tough regulation of Wall Street#8217;s financial firms might well replace the act with something even tougher. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0jd02hAVom8:rWvjhcgdSBk:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0jd02hAVom8:rWvjhcgdSBk:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=0jd02hAVom8:rWvjhcgdSBk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0jd02hAVom8:rWvjhcgdSBk:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=0jd02hAVom8:rWvjhcgdSBk:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0jd02hAVom8:rWvjhcgdSBk:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/0jd02hAVom8" height="1" width="1"/
June 25, 2010
16:25
More sense than money
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pChristie's and Sotheby's face buyer resistance/ppTHE two leading auction houses, Sotheby#8217;s and Christie#8217;s, have come a long way since the dark days of late 2008, when the sudden collapse of the art market caused their revenues to plummet. At the time, they were forced to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees to honour contracts on works that had been consigned to auction, yet failed to sell on the day. Now, two years later, the sector is running ahead of itself. As the art-market recovery gets under way, auction houses now face a particularly delicate moment./ppWhen art prices fell, auction houses struggled to attract sellers. Collectors faced with death, divorce or debt#8212;three common reasons for selling#8212;still consigned their works for auction. But discretionary selling fell back sharply. With the memory of the record prices of 2007 still fresh in many collectors#8217; minds, the question they asked themselves was #8220;why sell if you don#8217;t have to?#8221; .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=wZt_zvi5Sko:XqkKUg4j6X4:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=wZt_zvi5Sko:XqkKUg4j6X4:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=wZt_zvi5Sko:XqkKUg4j6X4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=wZt_zvi5Sko:XqkKUg4j6X4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=wZt_zvi5Sko:XqkKUg4j6X4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=wZt_zvi5Sko:XqkKUg4j6X4:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/wZt_zvi5Sko" height="1" width="1"/
June 24, 2010
9:38
Rudd on the tracks
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pLosing popularity, the Labor Party ditches its leader/ppLESS than a year ago Kevin Rudd rode high as one of Australia#8217;s most successful prime ministers. Suddenly, his spectacular career has come to a crashing end. With his rating in the opinion polls sliding disastrously, and a federal election due soon, a panicked ruling Labor Party on June 24th dumped Mr Rudd as leader. They replaced him with Julia Gillard, his deputy. She will give a country once branded as a bastion of male chauvinism its first female prime minister. /ppAs his support crumbled among Labor#8217;s 115 federal parliamentarians, Mr Rudd had declared defiantly the previous evening that he would fight a leadership challenge from Ms Gillard. But the coup turned out to be bloodless. Faced with a humiliating defeat, when the moment came Mr Rudd stood aside. His colleagues elected Ms Gillard unanimously. Wayne Swan, the treasurer, will take over as deputy prime minister. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=qMrMBem8zQI:3NclVj_rDAo:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=qMrMBem8zQI:3NclVj_rDAo:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=qMrMBem8zQI:3NclVj_rDAo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=qMrMBem8zQI:3NclVj_rDAo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=qMrMBem8zQI:3NclVj_rDAo:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=qMrMBem8zQI:3NclVj_rDAo:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/qMrMBem8zQI" height="1" width="1"/
June 23, 2010
12:00
Don't bet on the boss
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pWhich chief executives will be out of their jobs by next year?/ppIT SEEMS only a matter of time before Tony Hayward is granted his wish to get his life back. William Hill, a bookmaker, is giving short odds on the BP boss's survival beyond the end of the year after his dismal handling of a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He is not the only chief executive apparently destined for the door. Even shorter odds are offered on Tidjane Thiam, who faces the wrath of shareholders over Prudential's failed bid to buy AIA, an Asian insurer. But not all bosses are in hot water for their handling of calamitous events. Sir Howard Stringer may go for presiding over years of steady decline at Sony; Apple has a terrific record under Steve Jobs but poor health may force him out./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Y8pbY7Q7L9I:6D5LgQY2Jfc:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Y8pbY7Q7L9I:6D5LgQY2Jfc:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=Y8pbY7Q7L9I:6D5LgQY2Jfc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Y8pbY7Q7L9I:6D5LgQY2Jfc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=Y8pbY7Q7L9I:6D5LgQY2Jfc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=Y8pbY7Q7L9I:6D5LgQY2Jfc:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/Y8pbY7Q7L9I" height="1" width="1"/
June 22, 2010
14:49
True-bluefin
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pFarming one of the ocean#8217;s greatest fish/ppDURING May and June, when the mighty bluefin tuna returns to the Mediterranean to spawn, fishermen arrive from all over the world to catch it (click here to watch a video). In days gone by, the fish were netted and killed on the spot. Now, in high-tech operations involving divers and video cameras, they are transferred from the nets into #8220;farms#8221;#8212;arrays of cages anchored to the sea floor from Spain to Malta, to be fattened up. Then, come October, they are sold to Japanese boats, killed, frozen and shipped to Japan. /ppIt is a lucrative arrangement. Anthony Grupetta, the director general of agriculture and fisheries regulation in Malta, says that in those few months most farmers can increase the weight of a wild-caught bluefin by 27-30%. (He claims the Maltese farms do better than this, but does not say exactly how much better.) The cages do not cost much, and the fish fed to a tuna are worth a lot less than the added kilos of tuna-meat that result. What is more, Japanese buyers prefer fish raised this way. They say the quality of the meat from a bluefin killed straight after being caught is less tasty, as the fish has been stressed. .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=NeerRwCOhVs:ZAMhgd_GSZg:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=NeerRwCOhVs:ZAMhgd_GSZg:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=NeerRwCOhVs:ZAMhgd_GSZg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=NeerRwCOhVs:ZAMhgd_GSZg:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=NeerRwCOhVs:ZAMhgd_GSZg:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=NeerRwCOhVs:ZAMhgd_GSZg:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/NeerRwCOhVs" height="1" width="1"/
14:24
Mirror image
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pWhat Russia and America think of one another/ppIT IS easy to dismiss the #8220;reset#8221; in Russian-American relationship as mainly puff. After all, the most solid piece of business the two countries have done together since Barack Obama#8217;s visit to Moscow last year#8212;the signing of the new nuclear reduction treaty#8212;belongs to the old era in the bilateral relationship. But as Mr Obama greets Dmitry Medvedev in Washington this week, he can take comfort that his reset policy has yielded one important, even if less tangible, result#8212;the change of Russia's perception of America. Overall, Russians' attitudes to America (in polling from the Levada Centre) is mirrored by Americans' attitudes towards Russia, seen in Gallup surveys. This is no accident. However resentful the Russians can be of America, they also see it as a mirror which reflects their own place in the world. And the more hawkish American neo-conservatives can be about Russia, the more they sound like their Russian counterparts./pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0dMXMNzHqx4:881IQUqLhgg:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0dMXMNzHqx4:881IQUqLhgg:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=0dMXMNzHqx4:881IQUqLhgg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0dMXMNzHqx4:881IQUqLhgg:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=0dMXMNzHqx4:881IQUqLhgg:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=0dMXMNzHqx4:881IQUqLhgg:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/0dMXMNzHqx4" height="1" width="1"/
June 21, 2010
10:26
Whisky galore
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pWhich countries import most Scotch whisky?/ppTHE volume of Scotch whisky exports rose to a record 1.1 billion bottles last year, worth $4.9 billion. The value of exports has risen by over 40% since 2000 as more whiskies have gone upmarket and increased their prices. France, America and Spain are the largest markets, but the fastest growth is coming from South America. In Brazil whisky is a status symbol for the growing middle class (in the north-east of the country it is often drunk with coconut water over ice). In Venezuela bottles of whisky may be serving as both a store of value and as a diversion in an economy in deep trouble. Like other luxury-goods makers, the industry is eying India and China: spirits produced abroad account for less than 1% of the Chinese market. The challenge for Scotland#8217;s producers will be to ensure that China drinks Scotch instead of a local imitation, as has happened in whisky-mad Japan. /pp .../pimg width='1' height='1' src='http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32317/f/440640/s/b4d7f04/mf.gif' border='0'/div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=M3fU9zp1acA:GnsG9Q2Eg_A:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=M3fU9zp1acA:GnsG9Q2Eg_A:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=M3fU9zp1acA:GnsG9Q2Eg_A:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=M3fU9zp1acA:GnsG9Q2Eg_A:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=M3fU9zp1acA:GnsG9Q2Eg_A:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=M3fU9zp1acA:GnsG9Q2Eg_A:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/M3fU9zp1acA" height="1" width="1"/
10:26
Whisky galore
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pWhich countries import most Scotch whisky?/ppTHE volume of Scotch whisky exports rose to a record 1.1 billion bottles last year, worth $4.9 billion. The value of exports has risen by over 40% since 2000 as more whiskies have gone upmarket and increased their prices. France, America and Spain are the largest markets, but the fastest growth is coming from South America. In Brazil whisky is a status symbol for the growing middle class (in the north-east of the country it is often drunk with coconut water over ice). In Venezuela bottles of whisky may be serving as both a store of value and as a diversion in an economy in deep trouble. Like other luxury-goods makers, the industry is eying India and China: spirits produced abroad account for less than 1% of the Chinese market. The challenge for Scotland#8217;s producers will be to ensure that China drinks Scotch instead of a local imitation, as has happened in whisky-mad Japan. /pp .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=GnsG9Q2Eg_A:5WES3Zu0erU:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=GnsG9Q2Eg_A:5WES3Zu0erU:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=GnsG9Q2Eg_A:5WES3Zu0erU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=GnsG9Q2Eg_A:5WES3Zu0erU:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=GnsG9Q2Eg_A:5WES3Zu0erU:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=GnsG9Q2Eg_A:5WES3Zu0erU:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/GnsG9Q2Eg_A" height="1" width="1"/
June 20, 2010
9:21
The week ahead
» ‎ The Economist: News analysis and views

pWorld leaders gather for G8 and G20 summit meetings/pp#8226; LEADERS of the G8 group of rich countries gather in Muskoka, a Canadian holiday resort, for a two-day summit starting on Friday June 25th. The meeting overlaps with the two-day G20 summit that begins the next day in Toronto. Both get-togethers will give the opportunity to world leaders to discuss global financial regulation, reforming international financial institutions and responses to the crisis in the euro zone. The Canadian hosts have been criticised at home for the vast cost of the summit, in particular on the creation of a huge artificial lake for the media centre in a country with more real lakes than anywhere else in the world./pp#8226; ANXIETY in Britain is likely to be high as George Osborne, the country#8217;s new chancellor (finance minister), unveils details of a tough emergency budget on Tuesday June 22nd. The new budget will set out the overall trajectory of spending, which is likely to be sharply downward. Mr Osborne#8217;s colleagues have been making scary speeches about the parlous state of public finances. And gloomy independent forecasts for growth and the public finances from the new Office for Budgetary Responsibility suggest that hefty spending cuts and tax rises are inevitable. .../pimg width='1' height='1' src='http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32317/f/440640/s/b481381/mf.gif' border='0'/div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=3xAE5mWAuY0:9xvOEbpzzVI:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=3xAE5mWAuY0:9xvOEbpzzVI:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=3xAE5mWAuY0:9xvOEbpzzVI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=3xAE5mWAuY0:9xvOEbpzzVI:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?i=3xAE5mWAuY0:9xvOEbpzzVI:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?a=3xAE5mWAuY0:9xvOEbpzzVI:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/economist/news_analysis_and_views?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/economist/news_analysis_and_views/~4/3xAE5mWAuY0" height="1" width="1"/

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