Global politics at a crossroads
The retreat to nationalism and militant identity politics is counter to the process of accommodation that has underpinned world peace since the end of the Second World War explains David Held, professor of politics and international relations at Durham University.
Babiš’ Czech Republic: too thin a gruel?
There is always a chance that, owing to unforeseen domestic or external dynamics, the Czech Republic may yet slide into illiberal isolation. But it will be not be by design.
Dreamer’s Gate
Standing by itself on the road running through the small town of Collector in New South Wales, the unfinished sculpture of Dreamer’s Gate exudes a ghostly elegance, in tan and windblown concrete and wire,
George Steiner: The Gift of Memory
Has Truth a Future? George Steiner’s question may have sounded over-stated when it was first asked thirty years ago, but history has revealed the prescience of Dr Steiner’s urgent concern.
Plastics are making our oceans sick
Filmmaker Jo Ruxton talks about why she left the BBC to tell a more honest story about our seas. Once you get into your head that plastic’s not disposable, there are so many changes you can make.
The Scale of Pentagon Waste
If any other public agency had blown hundreds of billions of dollars, Congress would hold hearings. If it’s the Pentagon, it gets $80 billion more. It’s worth asking: Where does the money go?
Richard Thaler, Nobel laureate
Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago has been awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Hersh Shefrin looks at the development of three key areas of his research: people’s limited rationality, their perceptions about fairness, and their lack of self-control.
AIIB invests in Egyptian solar
It’s early days for solar power in Egypt but already the sector is attracting significant attention from big development banks, including investment by the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
The Neymar Bubble
The €222 million transfer of Neymar to PSG calls into question whether football superstars are a good investment. Using the financial details of the transfer, at the price paid, Neymar has a negative net present value. While there are other explanations for PSG’s willingness to pay, in purely economic terms his contract seems a bad investment.
Bismarck’s health insurance
The model for today’s health insurance systems was Otto von Bismarck’s compulsory health insurance, introduced in the German Empire in 1884. contemporary mortality data to show that, by extending access to healthcare, Bismarck’s health insurance significantly reduced mortality rates for blue-collar workers