Showing 1 - 10 of 220
The incalculable costs of corrupt statistics
Oped, Published on 29/08/2025
» With GDP and employment figures dominating political debates, it is easy to forget that they are hardly timeless truths. In fact, how we measure progress has shifted dramatically over time. The Physiocrats -- eighteenth-century French economists who saw agriculture as the source of all wealth -- regarded farms' output as the most important economic indicator. The Soviet Union, for its part, focused exclusively on goods production and ignored services altogether.
The $30m Egyptian pyramids tourism rebrand
News, Published on 12/06/2025
» Some 2.5 million people visit the Pyramids of Giza each year with hopes of an epic experience befitting one of the World's Seven Wonders. But for decades, a trip to Egypt's most famous tourist spot meant battling crowds and parrying aggressive hawkers.
Will the global economy stall?
News, Published on 21/04/2025
» The timing could hardly have been less propitious. Just as the world economy was showing signs of stabilising, the odds of a policy-induced global recession have risen significantly. The latest update to the Brookings-FT Tiger index reveals a mixed picture, with the financial index declining and private-sector confidence crumbling even as macroeconomic data (which lag the other indicators) suggest a more benign scenario.
We can't escape climate migration, it's inevitable
Oped, Published on 15/02/2025
» Not quite a quarter of the way through this 21st century and horrifying scenes of inferno are again broadcast across the world -- this time, from Los Angeles. Among the tens of thousands of dazed citizens forced to evacuate are the world's wealthiest climate refugees: business moguls and Hollywood stars.
Is the 'middle-income trap' real?
Oped, Published on 31/12/2024
» The term "middle-income trap" refers to the tendency of fast-growing developing economies to lose momentum well before they achieve high-income status. First introduced by World Bank economist Indermit Gill and the Brookings Institution's Homi Kharas in 2007, the concept has since become the subject of intense debate among economists.
Can we relocate our climate-threatened cities?
Oped, Published on 14/11/2024
» When my crew and I started excavating Calixtlahuaca -- an Aztec city-state capital near the modern-day city of Toluca in central Mexico -- I knew our findings might help answer questions of the past.
Remember, remember the 5th of Nov
Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/11/2024
» The US presidential election on Tuesday just happens to coincide with the annual November 5 Bonfire Night (or Guy Fawkes Night) over in Britain. So it looks like we could be in for plenty of fireworks on both sides of the Pond.
Ranking a distraction
Oped, Editorial, Published on 17/07/2024
» Thailand was recently named the world's fourth most beautiful country by the World of Statistics, and Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin couldn't hide his excitement.
So what exactly is Macron's strategy, then?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/06/2024
» Even before the final results were in from all of the 27 European Union countries that voted in the EU elections last weekend, President Emmanuel Macron had called national elections in France for the end of this month. What does he know that other European leaders don't?
Adapting to a hotter world
Oped, Editorial, Published on 08/05/2024
» The arrival of rains this week might have cooled off what has been an unusually hot season, which saw temperatures reaching 45C.