The Economist (US) back issues from March 2008:
A fence in the north, too; Canada and the United States.(Canada, America and border snags)
Mar 01, 2008 ... For Americans the border is a security issue; for Canadians it is a vital business artery that has become clogged A DRAMA series about the border between Canada and the United States would once have induced a yawn in the television audience. Residents of both countries could ...
Propaganda, not policy; Venezuela.(Venezuela's literacy programme)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Hugo Chavez has not ended illiteracy FOR most of her life, Ana Silva was illiterate, even though she completed primary school. Then she joined Mision Robinson, a literacy programme organised by Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez. Once a hospital cleaner, she is now a nursing ...
Colombia's hostages.(Brief article)
Mar 01, 2008 ... This time all went smoothly. Four Colombian politicians held hostage by FARC guerrillas for more than six years were freed on February 27th and turned over to Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez (pictured). This was amends of a sort: in December, the FARC embarrassed Mr Chavez, who has ...
Llamas and mash; Peru.(Potatoes in Peru)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Tastier than frozen french fries Making the most of potato patrimony MENTION potatoes in the United States and most people immediately think of Idaho, where more than a quarter of the country's crop is produced. In Europe, Ireland and its famine or Poland and its ...
Sari-rippers; Romantic fiction in India.
Mar 01, 2008 ... Studying hard in "me time" India and slushy novels: a match made in heaven? FOR more than 50 years, young Indian women have slipped into Lakshmi Book Store in central Delhi to request tales of lantern-jawed heroes and the beauties they unhinge with a glance. But until ...
Coming to terms; Pakistan.(Post-election bargaining in Pakistan)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Musharraf is down but not out; Zardari is up but not in SO FAR so good. Fears that Pakistan's general election on February 18th might lead to prolonged confrontation and protest have as yet proved unfounded. A surprisingly fair poll saw the humbling of the Pakistan Muslim League ...
A small voice calling; Animal rights in China.
Mar 01, 2008 ... The stirrings of a new protest movement HUMAN rights, or the lack of them, have long been a focus of China's critics at home and abroad. But a new rights movement--complete with idealistic local and foreign campaigners--is stirring: animal rights. Animals are treated ...
Thaksin comes home; Thailand.(Thailand's homecoming hero)(Thaksin Shinawatra)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Welcome back To a mixed reception in Bangkok, and a worsening insurgency in the south IT HAS been Thaksinism in all but the presence of the man himself. Since taking office in early February, Thailand's new government has pursued policies almost identical to those of ...
Chilly welcome; South Korea's new president.(Lee Myung-bak)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Hands up all those who like the president Just sworn in, Lee Myung-bak already seems out in the cold HIS thunder stolen internationally by the arrival of the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang (see page), Lee Myung-bak was sworn in as South Korea's 17th president on ...
Beginning the long goodbye; Indian politics.(Election speculation in India)
Mar 01, 2008 ... It could last more than a year, but the election season has already opened, and may determine the fate of India's nuclear deal with America TEMPERATURES soared in Delhi this week, replacing memories of winter with a dread of summer heat. In politics, the season is changing too ....
The tigers that lost their roar - Business in South-East Asia.
Mar 01, 2008 ... Other emerging economies are producing world-class companies by the dozen. Why aren't the countries of South-East Asia? IT IS easy to forget, now that China and India are all the rage, that until ten years ago South-East Asia was the world's fastest-developing region, winning ...
Heavenly muse; John Milton.(Book review)
Mar 01, 2008 ... A man apart PEOPLE quail slightly at the thought of John Milton: the Latin, the theology, the school memories of "Paradise Lost"--there is something inhospitable about it all. A scholar himself, Milton seems to belong to scholars and teachers. Very little is known about his ...
Wonder-food; History of the potato.(Book review)
Mar 01, 2008 ... ON THE face of it, John Reader's new biography of the potato seems to have a silly title--"propitious esculent" is just a fancy way to say "helpful food"--and an even sillier subtitle. But that is because the virtues of the world's fourth biggest food crop (after maize, wheat and rice) and ...
What a piece of work; The human brain.(Book review)
Mar 01, 2008 ... WHAT is it that makes Man, in Hamlet's phrase, a "paragon of animals"? The answer: a brain so greedy it gobbles a fifth of his energy; so big his birth was agony for his mother. Adam Zeman draws on literature, the history of science, and his practice as a consultant neurologist to paint a ...
Soft power and a rapturous ovation; Cultural diplomacy.(New York Philharmonic Orchestra performs in Pyongyang)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Maestro Maazel North Koreans listened to music they had never heard before--Gershwin, Dvorak and the "Star-Spangled Banner"--in an historic first visit by an American orchestra FOR at least 90 minutes in a theatre in Pyongyang it was possible for thoseattending a ...
War horse; The Bush legacy.(George W. Bush)(Book review)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Toxic Texan President Bush's eight years in office will be clouded by the invasion of Iraq AS GEORGE BUSH'S presidency draws to a close, biographers are scrambling to capture its essence between hard covers. Few will do as good a job as Lou and Carl Cannon. The ...
Not seen, not heard; Child abuse in Jersey.(An island story)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Eddie on the job A grisly discovery raises questions about the off-shore haven FED on salmon and insured for [pounds sterling]4.5m ($8.9m), Eddie is a prince among springer spaniels. The police sniffer-dog justified his lavish lifestyle on February 23rd, when he led ...
The latest new new thing; Polyclinics in the NHS.(Another shake-up for the NHS)(National Health Service)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Ministers may be keener than patients on a big shake-up in medical care TO PASSERS-BY in west London what catches the eye are the bright colours of the building. But the Heart of Hounslow Centre for Health, which opened last year, has also caught the eye of Labour ministers ...
Marking time; Temporary workers.(Labour v labour unions)
Mar 01, 2008 ... A row pits Labour against labour unions THE vice-like grip of party discipline means that private members' bills--legislation sponsored by individual MPs rather than the government--rarely go anywhere these days. So when, on February 22nd, two-fifths of Labour MPs voted to ...
Come to mama; Bagehot.(Does Parliament work?)(Michael Martin)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Contrary to conventional wisdom, the mother of parliaments is working better than ever SITTING on his canopied chair, behind his bewigged clerks, smiling meekly and mildly calling "Order!", Michael Martin, the speaker of the House of Commons, seems an inoffensive sort of chap ....
Out of order; The House of Commons.(Its beleaguered speaker)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Still first among equals Used to disciplining MPs, the speaker is in trouble of his own THE speaker of the House of Commons, one of Westminster's most ancient offices, is also one of its most cursed: before 1560 seven went on to be beheaded. The current holder of the ...
BAA's double-whammy; British airports.(Heathrow under new management)(British Airports Authority)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Why Britain's biggest airport operator needed a new boss THE decision this week of Britain's dominant airport operator, BAA, to get itself a new chief executive is a measure of the bind the firm finds itself in. The unlucky owner of Heathrow is fighting irate airlines, ...
Big, bigger, biggest; The DNA database.(Justice v privacy)
Mar 01, 2008 ... In mixed company The courts ponder how much genetic information the police should hold IT IS an object lesson in the unwisdom of shopping your nearest and dearest after an argument. In 2001 Michael Marper was arrested after his partner complained of harassment; the ...
Is it worth it? Private education.(Analysing the investment)
Mar 01, 2008 ... As the cost of private schools soars, we look at what parents get for their money FEE-PAYING schools have long played a giant part in public life in Britain, though they teach only 7% of its children. State-educated prime ministers (such as the current one) are a rarity; a third ...
Viewers' digest; Focus on video.(audiovideo.economist.com)(Brief article)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Watch "The world this week" at:audiovideo.economist.com Summaries of business and politics stories, from "The world this week", are now set to video and made available on Economist.com AMONG the more popular pages of The Economist are the brief summaries of world ...
A Communist to the rescue; Cyprus.(After the presidential election)(Dimitris Christofias)
Mar 01, 2008 ... A new Greek-Cypriot president raises hopes for a new unification plan MIGHT Cyprus replace Cuba as a holiday spot for starry-eyed Marxists? Demetris Christofias, leader of the Communist Akel party, comfortably won the run-off for president on February 24th, taking 53.4% to ...
The name's Dmitry; Russia's new president.(Dmitry Medvedev will be elected on March 2nd)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Medvedev and his heavy-metal pals Just who is Dmitry Medvedev? THREE years into his presidency, Vladimir Putin walked across Red Square to join the crowd for Paul McCartney's performance of "Back in the USSR". The man expected to be his successor this weekend, Dmitry ...
And they call it peace; Chechnya and the north Caucasus.(A still troubled place)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Vladimir Putin's presidency began in Chechnya; the region is restive as it ends ON DECEMBER 31st 1999 Vladimir Putin flew to Chechnya, which had been under Russian bombardment for months. It was a suitable first trip for the new president, whose rise to power was intimately ...
On death and dying; German politics.(After the Hamburg election)(Left Party won German parliamentary elections)
Mar 01, 2008 ... The old rules for coalition-building in Germany have passed away THE reaction of Germany's political class to the demise of their four-party system is reminiscent of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's "five stages of grief". First came "denial". In 2005 the Left Party won enough seats in ...
Spanish customs; Spain's election.(Ahead of the March 9th vote)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Reading about my generation Immigration becomes an voting issue WHAT exactly is a Spanish custom? Ahead of a close election on March 9th this is suddenly a matter of intense debate. The opposition People's Party (PP) leader, Mariano Rajoy, wants future immigrants to ...
Winners and losers; Charlemagne.(How Europe gains from globalisation)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Europe is a big winner from globalisation. If only politicians would say so "LET us be frank about it: most of our people have never had it so good," a British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, once said. The phrase entered the political lexicon, and "Supermac" went on to win ...
The road of discontent; Serbia.(The aftermath of Kosovo's independence)
Mar 01, 2008 ... For now Serbia remains torn about whether to pursue its European vocation--but it is likely to return to it eventually MORE than a week after Kosovo declared its independence on February 17th the dust has not settled. But the outlines of what might become a new Balkan reality ...
Smoke and mirrors - Russia's economy.(The mysteries of Russia's economy)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Taking the credit on every channel As Vladimir Putin stands aside (sort of), how much has he to do with Russia's booming economy--and how long can it last? FIRST appeared the wooden kiosks, selling everything from vodka to stockings. Vladimir Bulanov, a burly ...
In the stocks; Economics focus.(China's financial markets)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Shame fills a vacuum in China's financial law enforcement THE vast gaps in the regulations governing China's financial markets are no secret. The risks are spelled out in mind-numbing detail in every Chinese share prospectus issued to Western investors. They run the gamut from ...
Structural fault; Buttonwood.(America's debt market)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Why debt markets and shares have parted company IF BOND and stockmarkets are driven by the economy, they should tell similar stories. American two-year government bonds are yielding around 2%, suggesting a dismal economic outlook. Similarly, corporate bonds are trading as if ...
Oceans apart; Monetary policy.(Where the ECB and the Fed differ on inflation)
Mar 01, 2008 ... The ECB and the Fed diverge over inflation. Hence the surging euro FOR such a young institution, the European Central Bank (ECB) has some old-fashioned ideas. Unlike the Federal Reserve, its older American cousin, it still collects and publishes estimates of M3, a broad measure ...
The decoupled bank; Standard Chartered.(A rare bright spot in banking)
Mar 01, 2008 ... A rare bright spot in a troubled banking sector THERE was a whiff of nostalgia about the unveiling, on February 26th, of the full-year results of Standard Chartered. Here was a bank that had not forgotten how to make money: revenue bounced by 28% last year, to $11.1 billion; ...
Mood swings over Muto; Bank of Japan.(The decision to name a new Bank of Japan governor goes down to the wire)(Toshiro Muto)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Hallo Muto A ruffled succession at the central bank risks unnerving markets THE governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), Toshihiko Fukui, stands down on March 19th, and his successor had long been a given: Toshiro Muto, Mr Fukui's able deputy. Yet for weeks, the ...
Next year's model? Risk management.(What insurance can teach the banking industry)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Some insurers reckon they can teach investment bankers a thing or two about handling risk WITH their snappy name and flashy mathematical formulae, "quants" were the stars of the finance show before the credit crisis erupted. Now the complex models of risk that they developed are ...
Searching for Plan B; Foreclosures in America.(How to sort out America's mortgage crisis)
Mar 01, 2008 ... As America's mortgage mess worsens, radical solutions are gaining appeal WITH brick-fronted townhouses and old-fashioned street lamps, Faulkner's Landing in Ashburn is one of hundreds of new developments that sprouted across the farmlands of northern Virginia during America's ...
The ban stays absolute; Torture and deportation.(European judges forbid extradition to countries that violate human rights)
Mar 01, 2008 ... A ruling that will frustrate governments and please libertarians IN A landmark decision, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on February 28th that a government may not deport an individual to a state where he may be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. The unanimous ...
A hazardous comparison; America, Europe and the management of danger.(On both sides of the Atlantic, there is too much belief in the elimination of all perils)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Learning, by experience, not to fall Americans like the idea (though not always the reality) of risk more than comfortable Europeans do. To Russians, both lots seem hyper-cautious wimps ANYBODY who dabbles in transatlantic affairs has come across one giant ...
Why not just blow your whistle? Nuclear proliferation.(The difficulty of telling what Iran is really up to)
Mar 01, 2008 ... ElBaradei: please elaborate Its latest Iran report highlights the problems of the UN's atomic watchdog SO IS Iran trying to build the bomb or not? Iran says it is not. Israel says it is. America's intelligence people say it was trying to until 2003 but probably ...
Spud we like; The potato.
Mar 01, 2008 ... In praise of the humble but world-changing tuber IT IS the world's fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice. It provides more calories, more quickly, using less land and in a wider range of climates than any other plant. It is, of course, the potato. ...
Avoid that quagmire; The Kurdish conundrum.(The dangers of war on the border between Turkey and Iraq)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Turkey's latest assault on Kurdish guerrillas in Iraq is understandable but unwise TRYING to be nice, all at once, to the Turks, the Arab Iraqis and the various Kurds on all sides of the blurred borders between them is an almost ludicrous proposition. But it is what the ...
Hope and fear; Obamanomics.(Barack Obama)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Democratic economic policy sounds worryingly populist FOR a man who has placed "hope" at the centre of his campaign, Barack Obama can sound pretty darned depressing. As the battle for the Democratic nomination reaches a climax in Texas and Ohio, the front-runner's speeches have ...
Russia's uneasy handover - Russia's uneasy handover.
Mar 01, 2008 ... The new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, faces an unpalatable legacy MOST elections have an element of uncertainty about them. Not Russia's. This weekend, barring a miracle, Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin's handpicked successor, will win the Russian presidency by a ...
Trillion-dollar baby; Fund management.
Mar 01, 2008 ... Investors pay too much to have their money managed LOOKING after other people's money is a fine business. The asset-management industry long ago managed to secure a deal whereby its fee income rose in line with the markets; it can earn ever more money by doing nothing. The ...
Another president who won't go; Cameroon.(Rare protests against Cameroon's President Paul Biya)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Many Cameroonians are angry because their president refuses to retire THE MAN who has presided over Cameroon for 25 years touts a simple slogan: "Paul Biya for peace". But it no longer rings true. On February 24th and 25th, in Douala, Cameroon's commercial capital on the ...
It isn't funny; Morocco.(Morocco and its dissidents)(Fouad Mourtada jailed for posting fake internet profile of crown prince Moulay Rachid)
Mar 01, 2008 ... The royal regime has a sense-of-humour failure READERS of a website devoted to Moulay Rachid, the brother of King Muhammad VI and heir to the Moroccan throne, might well take it for a spoof. "Nationally tailored ambitious plans reflect HRH Crown Prince Moulay Rachid's vision to ...
Turkey invades northern Iraq; The Kurds.(Turkey's latest battle with its rebellious Kurds)
Mar 01, 2008 ... With scores of fighters on both sides killed, the latest battle between Turkey and its rebel Kurds with havens in Iraq may get out of hand THE latest incursion by Turkish forces into northern Iraq in an effort to squash the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which ...
Simba Makoni is getting up steam; Zimbabwe.(The run-up to Zimbabwe's election)
Mar 01, 2008 ... President Robert Mugabe may face a real challenge in the election on March 29th TRUE to form, Robert Mugabe celebrated his 84th birthday last week in high style, jovially dismissing his latest serious challenger for the presidency as a prostitute and a frog. But Simba Makoni, ...
A peace deal at last; Kenya.(A breakthrough in Kenya)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Odinga eyes his prize Kenya's quarrelling leaders have pulled back from the brink KOFI ANNAN, the UN's former secretary-general, is a patient man, but not that patient. After spending a month overseeing agonisingly slow negotiations between Kenya's government and ...
Baba Amte.(Baba Amte, saviour of India's outcasts)(Obituary)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Murlidhar Devidas ("Baba") Amte, champion of India's lepers and outcastes, died on February 9th, aged 93 HE HADN'T meant to touch it. As he grubbed in the rain-filled gutter to pick up dog shit, human excrement and blackened, rotten vegetables, stowing them in the basket he ...
Better than beta?(Better than beta?)(alpha (investment) or beta (investment))
Mar 01, 2008 ... Managers' superior skills are becoming harder to prove WHAT exactly are fund managers selling? At heart, they are offering exclusivity. In the complex world of financial markets, the client wants the best brains to look after his money. Picking the right fund manager is like ...
We make, you sell.(We make, you sell)(fund management companies)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Sometimes it's better to concentrate on one thing IF FUND management is such an attractive business, why would large banks such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch want to give it up? After all, with both groups facing write-offs related to the credit crunch, the steady revenue from ...
Plenty of alternatives.(Plenty of alternatives)(alternative assets)
Mar 01, 2008 ... But hedge funds and private equity have their limits THE stockmarket is a hard taskmaster. Beating the indices on a regular basis is difficult, and low-fee rivals are competing ever more vigorously. But the fund-management industry has found a new wonder weapon: alternative ...
In the spotlight.(In the spotlight)(hedge fund managers)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Fund managers are having to polish their image WHEN industries become rich and powerful, they inevitably attract attention--and criticism. Fund managers are often reluctant to embrace the spotlight, but are now being forced to do so. Whether it is private-equity groups accused ...
Money for old hope.(Money for old hope)(fund management)
Mar 01, 2008 ... The fund-management industry has done very well--but mainly for itself, says Philip Coggan IMAGINE a business in which other people hand you their money to look after and pay you handsomely for doing so. Even better, your fees go up every year, even if you are hopeless at the ...
All things to all men.(All things to all men)(fund management industry)
Mar 01, 2008 ... The industry is becoming more diversified ASK management consultants to review any sector, and the chances are they will forecast that a few big groups will come to dominate it, with a few niche businesses at the tail end. The remarkable thing about the ...
Jam today, jam tomorrow.(Jam today, jam tomorrow)(fund management industry may be the trend in the near future)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Why the industry will still be thriving in ten years' time THE fund-management industry may have its problems, but it also has two enticing opportunities ahead of it. You could call them the two Es--the emerging and the elderly. Twenty-five years ago, developed ...
Telltale hairs; Forensic science.
Mar 01, 2008 ... No sign of San Diego here You can tell where someone has been from his hair POLICE now have a new test to help catch criminals and verify alibis. By analysing the chemical composition of human hair, researchers can determine the source of the water someone has been ...
Run silent, run green; Sea gliders.(underwater robots to collect data about the ocean)
Mar 01, 2008 ... Where did that come from? By harvesting its energy directly from the sea, a new underwater robot could cruise the oceans for years SOMETHING unusual is swimming in the sea near the United States Virgin Islands. It has been there since December, slowly criss-crossing ...
Hope from a pill; Antidepressants.
Mar 01, 2008 ... Disagreements over whether drugs to combat depression are worth taking ANTIDEPRESSANTS have long been the source of controversy. Amphetamines were widely used as an antidote to neurotic depression into the 1960s, until such "pep pills" came to be seen as doing more harm than ...
Winds of change; Diagnostics.(Bad breath can be revealing)
Mar 01, 2008 ... A new kind of breathalyser JUST over 50 years ago Robert Borkenstein, then a little-known forensic scientist, invented the breathalyser, allowing instant analysis of alcohol levels in the blood from a sample of breath. It turns out, though, that a person's breath may reveal a ...