The Economist

China has a weapon that could hurt America: rare-earth exports

Tin, an overlooked critical metal, is enjoying a boom

What if America lifts sanctions on Russia but Europe does not?

A visual guide to critical materials and rare earths

If it comes to a stand-off, Europe has leverage over America (with Shashank Joshi and Christian Odendahl)

Syria’s economy, still strangled by sanctions, is on its knees

Will Europe return to Putin’s gas?

Donald Trump’s Super Bowl tariffs are an act of self-harm

The Arctic offers climate change’s great economic opportunity

Iran is vulnerable to a Trumpian all-out economic assault

Marlene Engelhorn first understood that her family was wealthy when she noticed quite how much larger their house was than those of her childhood friends. “We called it a big house,” she told me. “But it’s a mansion for crying out loud. Call it what it is.” Growing up, her …

Ukraine is winning the economic war against Russia

How much oil can Trump pump?

Anthony Colmenares would grab some nappies for his newborn and be home soon, he told his mother in San Cristóbal, a city in Venezuela. That was on July 17th 2019. He did not return. “We started calling, calling, calling,” his mother, Zenaida Basto, recalls tearfully. No reply.

Many people in America hope that the new Trump administration will take an axe to a bloated and overbearing government, cutting spending and rolling back regulation. Whether this goal is even plausible any more is a crucial question for America and the world, after two decades in which government debt …

A nifty infographic I produced with our data team

Farmers are inherently future-focused. They work their fields and pastures strategically, rearing livestock and planting crops not just for next season’s harvest, but for the success of those who will manage the land in years to come.

Sanctions are sinking Russia’s flagship gas project

For investors concerned that America’s tech giants are making recklessly large bets on generative artificial intelligence (AI), big tech’s latest quarterly results have offered some reassurance. The growth in demand from companies for the cloud services of Amazon, Microsoft and Google was red hot. Andy Jassy, boss of Amazon, said …

Would you like to retire five years earlier than planned with a fatter pension? Governments do not normally put such tempting questions to voters directly, for fear that they will merrily opt for jam today and disregard the disastrous fiscal consequences for tomorrow. Would you like to retire five years …

Inside the secret oil trade that funds Iran’s wars

Pickup trucks hauling empty fuel drums are lined up outside a petrol station next to a field of soyabeans in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The attendant says the queue hasn’t budged in days: there is no diesel. It’s been this way, on and off, for two months. “And the summer sowing …

How the Biden administration botched America’s sanctions against Iran

Could war in the Gulf push oil to $100 a barrel?

Is the world sleepwalking into another gas crisis?