Economy
Our coverage of global economics, from inflation-fighting central banks to apprehensive financial markets
Data
The Big Mac index: where to buy a cheap hamburger
Meat-eaters may want to avoid Argentina
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
The US economy
Will America’s economy swing the election?
It is not entering recession, but it is slowing down. That is bad news for Kamala Harris
Can Kamala Harris win on the economy?
A visit to a crucial swing state reveals the problems she will face
Swing-state economies are doing just fine
They would be doing even better if the Biden-Harris administration had been more cynical
America’s “left-behind” are doing better than ever
But manufacturing jobs are still in decline
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
China’s economy
One way to turbocharge the Chinese economy
Why won’t the government give farmers more freedom to sell their homes?
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
Russia’s economy
Vladimir Putin spends big—and sends Russia’s economy soaring
How long can the party last?
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
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
Europe’s economic growth is extremely fragile
Risk is concentrated in one country: Germany
Can anything rouse Germany from its economic slumber?
Politicians are more interested in trivial budget rows than finding sources of growth
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