Finance & economics

Indestructible

China’s economy is a mess. Why aren’t firms going under?

The government’s desire to avoid bankruptcies is another drag on growth

Frightening

How Japan poses a threat to the global financial system

Huge, reliable buyers of overseas bonds may be about to close their wallets

Tariff Man Part Two

Donald Trump’s second term would be a protectionist nightmare

His first term was bad enough

Buttonwood

What a third world war would mean for investors

Global conflicts have a habit of sneaking up on money-managers

Free exchange

Israel’s war economy is working—for the time being

The longer the conflict lasts, the greater the pressure

Buttonwood

Investors are returning to hedge funds. That may be unwise

Look beyond the current turbulence

Trade nightmares

America and the EU demonstrate protectionism’s ratchet effect

Negotiations over metal tariffs are going nowhere

Under the microscope

How health-care costs stopped rising

In America and elsewhere the received wisdom has been proved wrong

Fleet-footed

America would struggle to break Iran’s oil-smuggling complex

After years of sanctions, it has become a sophisticated operation

Making a statement

Xi Jinping steps up his attempt to rescue China’s economy

The president unleashes stimulus, appoints a finance minister and visits the central bank

Consumerzzzzzzzzz

Welcome to the age of the hermit consumer

The world economy is witnessing a $600bn-a-year shift in behaviour

Not so civil anymore

How free-market economics reshaped legal systems the world over

Friedrich Hayek’s followers promised growth. They may have overpromised