Free exchange
Our economics correspondents consider the fluctuations in the world economy, in theory and practice
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
Cementing relations
Has BRICS lived up to expectations?
The bloc of big emerging economies is surprisingly good at keeping its promises
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
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
Job-stealing robots
Why scan-reading artificial intelligence is bad news for radiologists
Good news for patients is bad news for medical professionals
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
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
Unwinding QE
The case against shrinking the Fed’s balance-sheet
The Fed has announced it will shed assets, but not how many
America’s labour market
Is there a wage growth puzzle in America?
Weak wage growth suggests the economy is not at full employment
Budgetary crystal balls
The hubris of ten-year budgets
No policymaker can accurately predict the future
