T alk to a business owner in any country and, before long, they will voice a familiar complaint. In low-unemployment America, a third of firms say they experience recruitment challenges as candidates lack the right skills. In high-unemployment Italy, a quarter have the same complaint. Labour shortages are, apparently, not just a problem in rich

Mar 13th 2025 T he market moves were bigger than expected. On March 5th German long-term yields jumped by 0.3 percentage points, the largest single-day rise in almost 30 years, and the euro surged. European stockmarkets, which would normally have suffered owing to higher rates, held on to their recent rises. Germany’s bombshell of a

Mar 13th 2025 T estosterone replacement therapy is popular. In men with a deficiency, injections should provide pep, a stronger libido and lower anxiety. Now many with normal levels hope to achieve the same benefits, as well as slower ageing, even though the jabs are unproven and risk side-effects including infertility. Adherents include Joe Rogan

Mar 12th 2025 W hat prompts a revolution? When it comes to investing, no change has been as great as that produced by researchers at the University of Chicago in the 1960s. Their financial-theory revolution changed the way that almost everyone invests, making speculators many trillions of dollars in the process. Explore more Buttonwood Finance

I t seems like five minutes ago that America’s stockmarket was the only game in town. Prices were breaking records every other week; rivals around the world had been left behind. Now investors’ faith in the country’s exceptionalism has been shaken by a deteriorating outlook for economic growth and Donald Trump’s erratic protectionism (see chart

Mar 10th 2025 | NEW YORK T HE SELL-OFF shows no sign of stopping. America’s S&P 500 index dropped by another 3% on March 10th, leaving the world’s most watched stockmarket down by almost 9% since its peak last month. The NASDAQ, dominated by tech firms, has fallen by 13%. It is not quite the

Mar 9th 2025 | Tallinn W ar and peace are notoriously difficult to price. Just now they are even harder to ignore. Three years ago Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent a wave of disruption through financial markets, yanking up commodity prices, choking off gas supplies and fuelling inflation. As the conflict ground on, that wave

Mar 9th 2025 | New York “A strong dollar is in our national interest.” The simple message from Robert Rubin, who became treasury secretary in 1994, marked a turning point. For decades, American policymakers had complained about how the weak currencies of their country’s trading partners had made life difficult for domestic manufacturers. Since then

C anada’s business press remained sanguine. Belligerent statements by the American president, one Toronto-based newspaper wrote, were mere campaign rhetoric; he would ultimately decide against tariffs that might “arouse resentment in Canada”. Such confidence turned out to be gravely misplaced. In 1930 Herbert Hoover signed into law the infamous Smoot-Hawley tariffs, named after their congressional

T he capital of Malawi, one of the world’s poorest countries, runs on aid. A city built in the 1970s by the World Bank, Lilongwe’s straight streets are filled with charities, development agencies and government offices. Informal villages house cooks and cleaners for foreign officials; the entrance to each is marked with the flag of