Jul 25th 2020

Free money: When government spending knows no limits

The world this week

Leaders

Macroeconomics
Free money

Governments can now spend as they please. That presents opportunities—and grave dangers

Collective debt
Europe pulls together

A €750bn covid-19 rescue package sets a welcome precedent

Regional development
Revive, then thrive

The best-run cities of America’s Midwest offer others lessons in recovery

Tanzania
You say bullish, I say...

Tanzania’s statistics smell fishy. The IMF should stop accepting them

Space exploration
Tread softly

Mars may be a pristine ecosystem. It should be protected

Letters

Letters to the editor
On Hong Kong, short-sellers, the Supreme Court, horse jumping, “The Prisoner”, medical terms, breadmaking

Briefing

A new era of economics
Starting over again

The pandemic has accelerated a rethink of macroeconomics.It is not yet clear where it will lead

United States

Congress and covid-19
Spot trades

Work and incentives
One-handed economics

Easing lockdowns and covid-19
The geometry of the pandemic

Police reform
Now for the hard part

Lexington
Trouble in Trumplandia

The Americas

Migration and Mexico
Youth departs

The Caribbean
Welcome Zoomers

Bello
The Inca trail leads to populism

Asia

Caste in India
No escape

The Philippine economy
A milder infection

Covid-19 in Central Asia
Dust-busters

Shipping in Japan
Sailing without sailors

Banyan
South China scene

China

Miscarriages of justice
Righting wrongs

Wild mushrooms
The champignon champions

Chaguan
Lessons from a summer hit

Middle East & Africa

Tanzania
A Potemkin economy?

Uganda’s coming elections
Power unmasked

Israel and covid-19
Mission unaccomplished

Illegal migration
No passport required

Racism in the Middle East
Maids for sale

Europe

Europe’s economy
A big fiscal deal

The Franco-German relationship
Back on the tandem

Covid-19 in slaughterhouses
Germany’s wurst jobs

Bulgarian protests
Bullies on a beach

Greek ruins
Attic views

Spain’s monarchy
A tarnished crown

Charlemagne
Chekhov’s treaty

Britain

Russian interference in politics
See no evil

Labour’s new management
Man overboard!

Demography
Turning Japanese

Travelling people
Gypsy lives matter

Life on furlough
Hold on

Housing market
A fragile boom

Brexit and fish
On the menu

International

Care homes
No place like home

Special report

The Midwest
An outsized punch

Cities
The urban prairie

Race and the city
Separate, downtrodden

Industry
America’s Mittelstand

Universities
From rustbelt to brainbelt

Politics
America’s divided middle

Nature’s metropolis
Don’t be the next Cahokia

Business

TikTok
Sixty seconds of fame

Information technology
In need of a software update

Bartleby
Pandemic veterans

Corporate profits
Seeing is disbelieving

Vaping
Puff piece

Mergers and acquisitions
Wakey, wakey

Schumpeter
The wannabe Alibaba

Finance & economics

Shadow banking
Putting the capital into capitalism

Metals
Shining brightly

Much Ant-icipated
Ant Group goes to market

Digital currencies
Bips and bytes

Buttonwood
Snake in the grass

Free exchange
Real-time danger

Science & technology

Astrobiology
Life on Mars: the search continues

Covid-19
The bat signal

Books & arts

Inside Tibet
Fear and loathing on the plateau

Bullfighting
The cape and the masks

Rock’n’roll fiction
The band played on

Home Entertainment
There’s always a catch

Johnson
The shadowland

Economic & financial indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Graphic detail

Covid-19 and football
Home comforts

Obituary

John Lewis
A country’s conscience