T HE LIQUIDITY crunch could not have come at a worse time. Usually, most of Hizbullah’s budget arrives on a plane in Damascus, the Syrian capital, with the country’s Iranian ambassador. The cash is then transported across the Lebanese border to the Shia militia. But on December 8th, just weeks after Hizbullah stopped fighting with

Dec 19th 2024 G IVING IS BIG business. In 2023 Americans alone handed $557bn to charities, according to the Giving USA annual report. So identifying which charities are the most efficient in terms of good done per dollar given is important. GiveWell, a charity evaluator, tries to do just this, and currently recommends giving to

Dec 19th 2024 T HE BRAZILIAN real holds an ignominious title this year: it is the worst-performing major currency, down by more than 20% to a record low of almost 6.3 to the dollar. The situation has grown even uglier over the past week, with the sell-off accelerating despite several interventions by the central bank.

W HY IS HOUSING so expensive? Explanations have tended to fall into two camps. One emphasises a gummed-up supply side: a range of restrictions on land use and NIMBY campaigners have stymied housebuilding across the rich world. The other camp focuses on demand: a long-term fall in real interest rates has bid up the prices

Dec 18th 2024 | KYIV AND PRYLUKY E VERY BUSINESS in Ukraine has a reference point. For Mykhailo Travetsky, a farmer in Pryluky, it was the first six weeks of the all-out invasion. As a Russian column stalled on a nearby highway, his farm became no-man’s land. Locals fought gun battles to keep the Russians

B ITCOIN IS BACK. Since Donald Trump’s election victory on November 5th, the world’s dominant cryptocurrency has surged to new heights above $100,000 a unit, enjoying a rise of 138% since the start of the year. Altogether, the world’s cryptocurrencies now have a market capitalisation of almost $4trn—making them more valuable than the entirety of

Dec 12th 2024 A t this time of year, many policymakers want to know how fast their economies will grow in the year ahead. China’s leaders set themselves a still tougher question: how fast their economy “should” grow. They are seeking not a forecast but a target. Explore more Economy China Free exchange Reuse this

Dec 12th 2024 | Washington, DC A lot is riding on the numbers after the decimal point. In the argot of investors, inflation in America is back to having a “two-handle” (that is, running above 2% but below 3%). It is a far better position to be in than a couple of years ago, when

Dec 12th 2024 I mpoverished countries do not have much in common. Half the population of Niger, a landlocked African nation beset by military coups, live in extreme poverty, eight in ten people have no access to electricity and GDP per person is just $620. By contrast, the average Bangladeshi is four times richer, and

Dec 10th 2024 | Washington, DC I nterest rates at their highest in decades, wars in Europe and the Middle East, elections in countries as important as America and India. No matter. The world economy delivered another strong performance in 2024; according to the IMF, global GDP will rise by 3.2%. Inflation has eased and