The Economist

The Economist is a global weekly magazine written for those who share an uncommon interest in being well and broadly informed. Each issue explores domestic and international issues, business, finance, current affairs, science, technology and the arts.

Coronavirus briefs • To 6am GMT May 20th 2021

The world this week

Race in America • A movement to end racial disparities emerged from the murder of George Floyd. How can it succeed?

The curious case of the disappearing worker • What to do about a labour crunch

Forgotten, but not gone • The worrying tremors coming from Italy

Hot air • Sustainable investing is rife with greenwashing. Genuine transparency, not box-ticking, is the cure

Brothers in blood • Africa’s gulag state is on the march

Letters

Mismatched and misbegotten • ASHKELON, HAIFA AND LOD

Joe se transforme • WASHINGTON,DC

Off their face • WASHINGTON, DC

Woke at work • SAN FRANCISCO

Moving on • PHILADELPHIA

Laters, maybe • WASHINGTON, DC

Joe’s modest Middle East medicine • The Biden administration’s foreign policy realism leaves little room for peacemaking

Writing on the wall • CALI

Head v heart • Two islands in the Caribbean wrestle with their colonial powers

The way it makes her feel • LIMA

Faster, stronger, superspreader? • TOKYO

Tall borders • SYDNEY

Jars on a plain • PHONSAVAN

Play FAST and lose • WELLINGTON

Vanishing act • As a second wave devastates India, Narendra Modi is nowhere to be seen

The return of Confucius • ZHUZHOU

Xi who must not be named • BEIJING

New life for an old tradition • How wealthy Chinese families recruit poor graduates as biddable sons-in-law

Master of the Horn? • ADDIS ABABA

Saving a language with 45 clicks • Only two fluent speakers of N uu survive. Both are in their 80s

Cowabungle • A Nigerian plan to reduce clashes over cattle is not working

When the ship hits the scam • Why vessels passing near Iran may have trouble staying on course

Testing the floodgates • MADRID

Waiting in the wings • ROME

Blood money • BERLIN

Hide and seek • The property market makes a good place to hide ill-gotten gains

The PiS dividend • WARSAW

Enemy armies with black mirrors • RUKLA AND VILNIUS

A model student • In the European Union you can behave how you like, as long as you get the grades

Hot but not overheating • STEVENAGE

Variations on a gene • A new coronavirus variant is spreading in Britain. But this time is different

Over there and over here • A multi-ethnic society makes foreign policy more complicated

Take Your Child to Work (Every) Day • BERLIN AND SEOUL

Monster of a merger • To survive online, media firms are combining. For some of them, it may already be too late

Check your privilege • HONG KONG

From self-isolation to self-service aisles

Paying a pittance is passé • Why McDonald’s is supersizing its wages

In the shadow of giants • SAN FRANCISCO

The name is Bezos. Jeff Bezos • Could an MGM deal be the outgoing boss’s parting shot?

The green meme • Green stocks are on a wild ride as investors of all stripes get on board. We dissect the investment boom

Loading, please wait • The global microchip shortage is here for some time

Bit by bit • As bitcoin lurches, Wall Street banks plot their way into cryptoland

Move over VIX • Why the move is now the true fear index

Learning to live without LIBOR...