Free exchange
Our economics correspondents consider the fluctuations in the world economy, in theory and practice
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Toil and trouble
Religious competition was to blame for Europe’s witch hunts
Many children are still persecuted as alleged witches in Africa for similar reasons
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Cementing relations
Has BRICS lived up to expectations?
The bloc of big emerging economies is surprisingly good at keeping its promises
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Crash course
How to interpret a market plunge
Whether a sudden sharp decline in asset prices amounts to a meaningless blip or something more depends on mass psychology
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Dynamic do-over
Republicans grouse about tax models they once supported
When the experts say tax reform will not pay for itself, the party ignores the experts
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Job-stealing robots
Why scan-reading artificial intelligence is bad news for radiologists
Good news for patients is bad news for medical professionals
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The Nobel prize in economic sciences
Richard Thaler’s work demonstrates why economics is hard
It is difficult to model the behaviour of creatures as irrepressibly social as humans
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The 2017 Nobel prizes
The Nobel in economics rewards a pioneer of “nudges”
Richard Thaler becomes one of very few behavioural economists to receive the discipline’s highest honour
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Unwinding QE
The case against shrinking the Fed’s balance-sheet
The Fed has announced it will shed assets, but not how many
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America’s labour market
Is there a wage growth puzzle in America?
Weak wage growth suggests the economy is not at full employment
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Budgetary crystal balls
The hubris of ten-year budgets
No policymaker can accurately predict the future