Economy
Our coverage of global economics, from inflation-fighting central banks to apprehensive financial markets
The global economy faces an exceptional moment of uncertainty. High and persistent inflation has led central banks to raise interest rates rapidly. Monetary tightening has caused banks to fail in America and house prices to wobble across the rich world. China has reopened its economy, having abandoned its “zero-covid” policy, but has not yet grown as fast as investors predicted. Still, many economies are proving surprisingly resilient to the forces that are buffeting them. The euro zone has technically entered a recession but remains stronger than feared, helped by the partial reversal of the surge in energy prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And labour markets continue to be strong. Read our latest economy news and analysis below to understand what is going on, why, and what may happen next.
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The US economy
At last, a convincing explanation for America’s drug-death crisis
There is a more plausible cause than despair
American life-sciences firms are moving labs downtown
They provide welcome demand even as offices shrink
Real wages have risen in America and are rebounding in Europe
Yet workers remain miserable
How will America’s economy fare in 2024? Don’t ask a forecaster
The consensus is that there is no consensus
Why American manufacturing is becoming less efficient
The unfortunate reversal of a long-standing trend
America’s bad auto loans could have nasty consequences
The country’s credit unions are particularly exposed
China’s economy
Is China understating its own export success?
The $230bn puzzle at the heart of the country’s trade figures
Will China leave behind its economic woes in 2024?
Xi Jinping must decide whether to set an ambitious growth target
Could China, Russia’s “no-limits” friend, help rebuild Ukraine?
How big a role might it play in post-war reconstruction?
China and the EU risk a trade war
Massive Chinese overcapacity in electric cars is a giant political risk for Europe
China edges towards a big bail-out
But officials are wary of moral hazard
China’s economy is suffering from long covid
Revealing gloom on the streets of an ordinary Chinese city
Russia’s economy
Vladimir Putin is running Russia’s economy dangerously hot
Extravagant war spending is fuelling inflation
What Russia’s budget reveals about the war in Ukraine
The outlook is bleak
The costs of Russia’s war are about to hit home
Vladimir Putin will be unable to protect citizens from the pain
A higher global oil price will help Russia pay for its war
The Kremlin tries new tactics to keep proceeds afloat
Russia will struggle to cope with a sinking rouble
What does the currency’s collapse mean for Vladimir Putin’s ability to wage war?
How Russia dodges diesel sanctions
Restrictions are bringing easy bucks to those who do not observe them
Asia’s economies
How to put boosters under India’s economy
With the right policies, growth could be astonishing
Will a fiscal mess thwart Japan’s nascent economic growth?
Fears first raised a quarter of a century ago may be about to come true
Israel is strangling the West Bank’s economy
Unless conditions ease, the Palestinian Authority could collapse
Is Japan’s economy at a turning point?
Wage and price inflation is coinciding with an exciting corporate renewal
How Japan poses a threat to the global financial system
Huge, reliable buyers of overseas bonds may be about to close their wallets
Sri Lanka shows how broken debt negotiations have become
The country’s creditors decide they have no choice but to freeze out China
Europe’s economies
German business is fed up with a government in disarray
And now it braces for budgetary austerity
Turkey’s economy has improved, but its foreign policy is still messy
President Erdogan’s post-election turnaround only goes so far
Europe’s technology startups are doing just fine
Slowdown? What slowdown?
Southern Europe’s employment boom is not strong enough
Structural problems keep unemployment in Europe’s sun belt too high
Germany’s ruling coalition grapples with a wrecked budget
The constitutional court has outlawed the way it gets round strict deficit limits
Britain’s chancellor offers tax cuts and fiscal trickery
A pre-election giveaway from Jeremy Hunt