Jun 22nd 2024

Dawn of the solar age

The world this week

Leaders

The solar age

The exponential growth of solar power will change the world

An energy-rich future is within reach

The future of combat

AI will transform the character of warfare

Technology will make war faster and more opaque. It could also prove destabilising

French peril

Emmanuel Macron’s project of reform is at risk

A snap election in France reveals the flimsiness of his legacy

An unrealisable idea

How to tax billionaires—and how not to

Closing loopholes would be a better bet than a levy on unrealised capital gains

Raising Argentina

Javier Milei’s next move could make his presidency—or break it

Radical experiments with the currency could spell disaster

Power and politics in India

India should liberate its cities and create more states

It doesn’t need more government. It needs more governments

Letters

On competition law, old people and savings, green belts, New York, worms, equality, followership

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

Artificial intelligence

Ray Kurzweil on how AI will transform the physical world

Russia and the West

Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine is part of his revolution against the West

Briefing

Model major-general

How AI is changing warfare

An AI-assisted general staff may be more important than killer robots

Essay

The Sun machines

Solar power is going to be huge

Asia

Marriage of convenience

Vladimir Putin’s dangerous bromance with Kim Jong Un

Marriage of equals

Thailand legalises same-sex marriage

Banyan

The army-backed establishment in Thailand goes after its enemies

Governing 1.4bn people

Why India should create dozens of new states

China

Picking through the ice

China and Russia have chilling plans for the Arctic

School spirit

China wants to export education, too

Leave the Hermès at home

China doesn’t want people flaunting their wealth

Chaguan

China’s revealing struggle with childhood myopia

United States

Preparing for a takeover

Republicans are favoured to win the Senate. What would they do?

Freezing time

Are America’s leading presidential candidates up to it?

School of stocks

America is educating a nation of investors

On the trail in Colorado

Lauren Boebert’s primary is a window into everyday Trumpism

The second sex

New research exposes the role of women in America’s slave trade

Beyond the border

Legal immigration to America has rebounded

Lexington

Donald Trump has finally got it right about the January 6th insurrectionists

Middle East & Africa

From chaos to country

Is a Palestinian state a fantasy?

War in the Middle East

Israel’s northern border is ablaze

The light continent

Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa

The rainbow nation’s election

A remarkable new era begins in South Africa

The Americas

No pain, no gain

Javier Milei has turned Argentina into a libertarian laboratory

Europe

France’s parliamentary election

Emmanuel Macron faces heavy losses after a short campaign

The French parliamentary elections

A hard-right 28-year-old could soon be France’s prime minister

Crumbling firewalls

Hard-right parties are entering government across Europe

The spoils of war

Russia’s latest crime in Mariupol: stealing property

Growing old together

Why southern Europeans will soon be the longest-lived people in the world

Charlemagne

Europe today is a case of lots of presidents yet nobody leading

Britain

Britain’s general election

Britain’s Conservatives rule the Thames Estuary. Not for long

Filling the fiscal hole

What taxes might Labour raise?

Expectation management

Child poverty will be a test of Labour’s fiscal prudence

Death and salmon

Climate change casts a shadow over Britain’s biggest food export

Oh, Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn wants more nice things, fewer nasty ones

Without a care

The silence of the bedpans

Bagehot

Britain’s Conservatives are losing as they governed. Meekly

International

Attending university abroad

Brainy Indians are piling into Western universities

Business

Solar coaster

China’s giant solar industry is in turmoil

Dam good

Floating solar has a bright future

Powering up

India’s electronics industry is surging

Hot mess

The cautionary tale of Huy Fong’s hot sauce

Flying off the rails

European airlines are on a shopping spree

Nvidia

Nvidia is now the world’s most valuable company

Bartleby

Are manufacturing jobs really that good?

Schumpeter

Palmer Luckey and Anduril want to shake up armsmaking

Finance & economics

The great escape

Why house prices are surging once again

Bardella’s potential burden

How bad could things get in France?

Gridlock

Europe faces an unusual problem: ultra-cheap energy

Leviathan bound

Indian state capitalism looks to be in trouble

Sweet gains, bro

America’s rich never sell their assets. How should they be taxed?

Buttonwood

Think Nvidia looks dear? American shares could get pricier still

Free exchange

Is America approaching peak tip?

Science & technology

Dark secrets

The dominant model of the universe is creaking

Sweet spot

The secret to taking better penalties

Flower power

A flower’s female sex organs can speed up fertilisation

Paint by numbers

How physics can improve image-generating AI

Culture

Bottles up

Wine collectors are at last taking champagne seriously

Who are you calling a Neanderthal?

Theories of pre-history are a mirror on their times

Back Story

What a row over sponsorship reveals about art and Mammon

No city of angels

Los Angeles is the capital of film noir

When screens clean the green

Technology has changed money-laundering

Everything to play for

How games and game theory have changed the world

The Economist reads

The Economist looks at

How to stare at the Sun, through art

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

The Economist explains

The Economist explains

How America’s presidential debates are changing this year

The Economist explains

How political “cohabitation” works in France

Obituary

No witches in this world