The Economist is a global weekly magazine written for those who share an uncommon interest in being well and broadly informed. Each issue explores domestic and international issues, business, finance, current affairs, science, technology and the arts.
Coronavirus briefs • To 6am GMT February 18th 2021
The world this week
America’s better future • This is the moment for an ambitious attempt to deal with climate change
Another chance • Mario Draghi’s appointment as prime minister is good for Italy and good for Europe
Spactacular • SPACS are a mania—and a useful way to take firms public
Many hands, light work • A lower share of women are in work in India than in Saudi Arabia
Macron’s African mission • France wants to avoid a “forever war” in the Sahel. That will take patience, and allies
Letters
The switch • NEW YORK
Light a candle for the kids • The freeze in Texas exposes America’s infrastructural failings
Marred but at largio • WASHINGTON, DC
Tower of babble • NEW YORK
Under pressure • NEW YORK
Rescued charm • BALTIMORE
Deadly inspirations • CHICAGO
John Kerry, eco-warrior • The former secretary of state is a good pick for what may prove to be a chastening task
The transformer • MEXICO CITY
Tampon tempest • MEXICO CITY
A case of mistaken identity • The failures of Carlos Menem, a conservative caudillo, tarnished liberalism
200m jobs short • MUMBAI
Les Kanaks en marche • WELLINGTON
Suffer the little children • MANILA
General strike • SINGAPORE
The swing to the sultans • As Malaysia’s politicians bicker, its royals gain authority
Sinovacillate • BEIJING
Winter is coming • HONG KONG
How to kill a democracy • America is losing its ability to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan. Allies are in denial
Which way out? • DAKAR
The case against the prosecutor • NAIROBI
Coconut shy • ZANZIBAR
Oil, toil and spoils • JOHANNESBURG
The agitator • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is mulling another run for the presidency—and espousing better relations with America
Hope and despair • DUBAI
Whatever it takes • BERLIN AND ROME
Variations on a nationalist theme • MADRID
Protection plates • PARIS
Sympathy for the devil • MOSCOW
Dirty politics • Europe’s green wave has a brown undercurrent
Big on clean energy • Britain has decarbonised its grid faster than any other rich country. That was the easy bit
Starmer stuck • The Labour leader is Perfect Peter to Boris Johnson’s Horrid Henry
You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling • ROME, SÃO PAULO AND SINGAPORE
Trafficking dreams • BEIJING
Hard reboot • Can Pat Gelsinger turn the chipmaking giant around?
Musical shares • The latest listing of a major label shows the streaming boom is maturing
Pit stop • KOLWEZI AND PARIS
ICEy conditions ahead • Volkswagen’s boss wants more electric cars—but won’t kill the petrol engine
Culture wars • Anglo-Saxon activist investors want to whip Danone into shape
South Korea’s baby Amazon • SEOUL
Back for good, or bad • Returning to the office will be tricky
Red in tooth and clawback • How to design ceo pay to punish iniquity, not just reward virtue
SPAC invasion • NEW YORK
Rain for the rainmakers • The spac craze will change tech investing
Great expectations
Advantage Amsterdam • BERLIN
Token gestures • Bitcoin grabs the headlines, but the real action...