The Economist (US) back issues from June 2008:
Spot the rancher; Measuring deforestation.(Measuring Amazon deforestation)
Jun 07, 2008 ... What the numbers do and don't say about deforestation HOW reliable are the Brazilian government's estimates of deforestation? Not at all, according to Blairo Maggi, the governor of Mato Grosso state. He says his officials have visited areas officially identified as newly ...
A police state? Venezuela.(A draconian decree in Venezuela)
Jun 07, 2008 ... A draconian charter for spies IT MAY be an autocracy, but Hugo Chavez's government has never been particularly repressive, let alone a dictatorship. A decree issued late last month with no prior debate threatens to change that. It creates a new intelligence and ...
Inglorious; Nicaragua.(Daniel Ortega's Nicaragua)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Daniel Ortega's lacklustre return IN 1979 Daniel Ortega led a socialist revolution against a notorious military dictator, going on to rule Nicaragua as head of the Sandinista movement until 1990. Last year he became president again after winning an election against a divided ...
Not just a breadbasket; Canada.(Boom times in Canada's Saskatchewan)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Don't ask about the house prices Saskatchewan becomes the new Alberta THINK of Saskatchewan, and if you can place the western Canadian province on a map you might conjure up a vision of an endless prairie of wheat, so flat that the locals joke that "you can watch your ...
Welcome to our shrinking jungle; Brazil and the Amazon.
Jun 07, 2008 ... A political storm over environmental policy has coincided with a rise in deforestation FROM the Amazon last month, Brazil's Indian agency released aerial pictures of painted men with bows and arrows who have had little or no contact with modern civilisation. To judge from their ...
A month of misery; Myanmar.(Myanmar's misery lingers)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Not much of a homecoming The junta is still thwarting efforts to help its desperate people WHEN the United Nations' secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, met Myanmar's reclusive leader, General Than Shwe, on May 23rd, he secured a promise of free access for foreign aid ...
Going, maybe; Pakistan.(Pakistan: Musharraf clings grimly on)(Pervez Musharraf)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Pervez Musharraf may be on his way out. But he is taking his time MANY Pakistanis think that Pervez Musharraf's days as their president are numbered. They may be right. On June 4th a senior adviser to the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which heads the two-month old coalition ...
Summer of discontent; South Korea.(South Korea's summer of discontent)(Lee Myung-bak's 100 days in office)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Beefing about beef President Lee Myung-bak's first 100 days have not gone according to plan THERE was little to celebrate as South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, marked his hundredth day in office this week. The president's approval rating is 21%, a fall of 31 ...
Thou shalt have no other; Hong Kong citizenship.(A row over citizenship in Hong Kong)
Jun 07, 2008 ... It is no longer enough simply to praise China BORN in what was then a colonial outpost, Gregory So Kam-leung has led a life typical of many in Hong Kong: higher education and early career in Canada; return to Hong Kong during the boom prior to the handover to China in 1997; ...
Looking for an exit; Bangladesh.(Political deadlock in Bangladesh)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Three's a crowd in jail: Zia, Nizami and Hasina Like so many before it, the army finds that coming in is easier than going out THE two big political parties in Bangladesh are loth to accept what lawyers say is now only months away: the conviction on corruption ...
Into the wide blue yonder; Asia's navies.(Who will rule the waves in Asia?)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Asia's main powers are building up their navies. Is this the start of an arms race? IN THE 15th century China possessed a mighty navy of "treasure fleets". They sailed as far as Africa and the Persian Gulf, spreading China's economic and political influence across several ...
A decade in the sun - The ECB at ten.(European Central Bank)
Jun 07, 2008 ... The ECB has had a good credit crisis and a solid first decade. That was the easy bit IF A currency's market value is a proxy for the status of the central bank that stands behind it, then the European Central Bank (ECB) is now ranked higher than any of its peers. The euro ...
Faces at the window; Enlarging the euro.
Jun 07, 2008 ... Lots of countries want to join the euro. But does the euro want them? AS MORE countries adopt the euro, formulating monetary policy will only become harder. When the ECB was created in 1998 it set monetary policy for 11 prospective euro members. As the European Union has ...
Belfast: the film set; Northern Ireland.(New times, new businesses)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Mr Murray on a cinematic spree Another peacetime dividend A GLIMPSE of Liam Neeson on a Belfast street would surprise few: the film star was after all born in Northern Ireland. But Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Shirley MacLaine? Foreigners are discovering the charms of ...
The best-laid plans; Political rebellions.(An increasingly biddable government is under pressure again)(United Kingdom)
Jun 07, 2008 ... An increasingly biddable government is under pressure again JUST as the threat of one parliamentary rebellion against Gordon Brown appears to recede, another emerges. On June 2nd Labour MPS sceptical about the government's case for extending detention without charge for ...
The prim and the lush; Drinking.(Boozing is going up--and also down)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Alamy Teenagers are polarising into teetotallers and old soaks VOMIT caked the seats, beer slicked the platforms, glass crunched underfoot. London's Underground trains can be unpleasant on Saturday nights, but on May 31st they were especially hideous. Ironically, the ...
Green and unrepresented land; Labour and the countryside.(Country-dwellers and their woes)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Country-dwellers feel aggrieved and ignored. But they have reasons for optimism EIGHTY per cent of England's people live in towns and cities. Yet it is the green and pleasant countryside that evokes the place to foreigners and residents alike. Tourist agencies, postcards and a ...
Clean bowlered; Bradford & Bingley.(A bungled rights offer)
Jun 07, 2008 ... A bungled rights offer sparks renewed fears about the banking sector THE prospectus for Bradford & Bingley's original rights issue is not all that was pulped after the bank announced the terms of a revised offering on June 2nd. B&B's reputation is also in shreds. And a ...
Testing times; Qualifications.(The problems of the new diploma)
Jun 07, 2008 ... A new diploma may fail to improve vocational education while undermining academic quality IN SOME countries schools send their youngsters off with a bang: a graduation ceremony, a diploma wrapped in ribbon and perhaps even a black-tie do. In Britain many barely wave goodbye ....
So much for the scare stories; Offshoring.(New findings about jobs created)
Jun 07, 2008 ... New evidence shows that the gains outweigh the losses BRITONS have long been fairly sanguine about traditional forms of globalisation such as trade and international investment. But the outsourcing of work formerly done in Britain to foreign countries has aroused fears, not ...
Taking on the techno-nationalists; Spotlight on Business.view.(Viewpoint essay)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Read the full column at:www.economist.com/businessview Our online business columnist is not worried by threats to America's dominance in innovation. We publish an extract of his weekly missive AMERICA has long been a powerhouse of innovation, breeding thousands of ...
Sex, lies and secularism; Muslims in France.(A row about an annulment)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Dati in a dilemma How a lie about virginity embarrassed the justice minister RARELY has a judicial verdict in a civil court set off so much argument. But the annulment of the marriage of two French Muslims in Lille, granted because the bride falsely claimed to be a ...
All at sea; Baltic co-operation.(A Baltic shindig)
Jun 07, 2008 ... The ideal international summit is a dinner party with a waiting list ON ANY list of international organisations deserving the chop, the Council of the Baltic Sea States should have a high ranking. Its membership is illogical: non-Baltic Norway and faraway Iceland are in (thanks ...
A Balkan Belgium? Macedonia's election.(After the June 1st election)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Ballots but no bullets The ruling party wins, but the row over Macedonia's name drags on A FASHIONABLE idea is circulating among Balkan-watchers: "Belgianisation". This is not meant to suggest complex federalism. Instead it implies that different nationalities whom ...
To the baths; The Sandzak region.(Bosniaks in Serbia)
Jun 07, 2008 ... At least one possible Balkan flashpoint is no longer a huge concern PEER through the steam of the Turkish bath in Novi Pazar and you can make out groups of sweaty men whispering about the latest news. It has been like this almost ever since the baths were built in 1594, when ...
Tap dancing; Data protection in Germany.(A row about data protection)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Political fallout from a telecom scandal EVEN in a season of corporate misbehaviour Deutsche Telekom's wrongdoing stands out. Irked when confidential forecasts surfaced in a financial magazine in early 2005, somebody at Telekom hired a consultant to trawl through the telephone ...
Chinese torture; Charlemagne.(EU-Chinese relations)
Jun 07, 2008 ... The European Union may find dealing with the Middle Kingdom trickier than it expects IN THIS Olympic summer, expect to hear a lot about the century of China's rise and America's decline. That sounds like good news for the European Union, and all who dream of a "multipolar" ...
Under threat of change; French higher education.(France's university reforms)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Slowly but surely, universities in France--and across all of Europe--are reforming BENEATH the medieval cloisters and bleak 1960s campuses of Europe's universities, the ground is trembling. For years, Europeans have talked of doing something about higher education, so as to ...
Melting Asia - China, India and climate change.
Jun 07, 2008 ... Beijing goes alternative for the Olympics China and India are increasingly keen to be seen to be tackling climate change; though it is dirtier, China is making a more convincing show of action SINCE 2006 the railway line across the Tibetan plateau (above) has been ...
Recovery? What recovery? Buttonwood.
Jun 07, 2008 ... The credit crunch looks far from over IN MAY many investors took comfort in the view that the worst of the credit crisis may be over. But, as in 1939-40, says one hedge-fund manager, it was just "the phoney war. The tanks are about to roll into France." The gunners ...
Dollar dilemmas; Currencies.(America's new currency policy)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Speak loudly but carry a small stick Does the new dollar policy make sense? FOR several years two rules have governed America's dollar policy. The first was that only the treasury secretary talked at length about the greenback. The second was that he repeated a ...
Building BRICs of growth; Economics focus.(Brazil, Russia, India and China)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Record spending on infrastructure will help to sustain rapid growth in emerging economies THE biggest investment boom in history is under way. Over half of the world's infrastructure investment is now taking place in emerging economies, where sales of excavators have risen more ...
Taking Wing; Asian banking.(China Merchants Bank buys Wing Lung)
Jun 07, 2008 ... The first big takeover by a mainland bank outside of China IT CAME down, in the end, to a fight between an aggressive Australian bank with a new boss who has China in his sights, and keen Chinese banks wanting a quick route to the outside world. The result reflected the new ...
The law poor; Legal reform and development.(The importance of giving legal titles to the poor)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Law-abiding, but the law can't abide her A new report says that legal empowerment can help end poverty TWO in every three people on the planet--some 4 billion in total--are "excluded from the rule of law." In many cases, this begins with the lack of official ...
Charter school; Financial exams.(Swotting up on finance)(chartered financial analyst)
Jun 07, 2008 ... How not to unwind after work ON THE weekend of June 7th and 8th, up to 175,000 people round the world will face one of the most arduous tests of their lives. They will sit one of the three exams required to earn the coveted status of chartered financial analyst (CFA). ...
Showers turning to storms; India's GDP.(India becomes a $1 trillion economy, but risks overheating)(gross domestic product)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Taking the heat out of India's economy THE monsoon reached India on May 31st, dousing Kollam, a city in Kerala, in 19cm of rain. Good rains once guaranteed an economic boom in India, but that was in a simpler time. According to figures released a day before, India is now a $1 ...
Status Cuomo; Credit-rating agencies.(New York's attorney-general tackles the ratings agencies)(Andrew Cuomo)
Jun 07, 2008 ... The rating agencies have got off lightly from regulation--so far IF CREDIT-RATING agencies evaluated themselves in secret, they might well be upgrading their own outlooks. For much of the past year they were numbered among those most vulnerable to punishment for their role in ...
Out of the frying pan; Investment banks.
Jun 07, 2008 ... And into the line of fire of those keen to constrain Wall Street's free-wheeling ways "THE worst is behind us," proclaimed Dick Fuld, Lehman Brothers' boss, in April. If only. Although the overall financial system may be safer, thanks to extraordinary central-bank interventions ...
Keep pretending; Ex-royalty.(Kings without a kingdom)(Nepal's monarchy)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Michael, the respectable Romanian A good retirement guide for monarchs A KING with no throne might seem as pointless as an admiral with no ships. The Nepalese royal family probably feels pretty gloomy as it packs its possessions and prepares to leave its palace this ...
Trooping the tribal colours; Indigenous campaigners.(Campaigners for indigenous rights are adaptable globe-trotters)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Almir: the earth's his oyster A hardy and versatile species that can do surprisingly well in boardrooms, palaces and even diplomatic conferences WHEN the five nations that assert sovereignty (and economic rights) in the melting Arctic conferred in Greenland last ...
Only a few green shoots; The world food summit.(A talkfest in Rome about the food crisis dodged the hardest issues)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Some good ideas, but too little cash, were among the fruits of a global gathering BOSSES of the United Nations have some discretion over what to focus on. For Kofi Annan, the previous secretary-general, the big issue was peacekeeping and conflict in poor countries. For the new ...
Not necessarily a bad idea; Behavioural targeting.
Jun 07, 2008 ... A new way to target online advertisements could do a lot of good. But only if it is handled sensitively IF YOU are reading this, it is a fair guess that you are interested in advertising, online commerce, internet regulation or online privacy. So it may make sense to display ...
America at its best - America at its best; The presidential election.(The general election begins)
Jun 07, 2008 ... The primaries have left the United States with a decent choice; now it needs a proper debate about policies IT IS hard to believe after all the thrills and spills, but the real presidential race is only now beginning. In any other country, the incredible circus that has marked ...
Playing politics with the Fed; Central banks.(United States Federal Reserve Board)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Alamy By refusing to confirm new governors, Congress is putting the world's most important central bank at risk SMALL, weak and vulnerable: hardly an accurate description of America's central bank. But soon it could be. The Federal Reserve is the world's most ...
Ten years on, beware a porcine plot; The European Central Bank.(A tenth birthday)
Jun 07, 2008 ... The euro has been a success, but its biggest test is still to come GIVEN the dark muttering at its birth, the European Central Bank could be forgiven a degree of smugness as it celebrated its tenth anniversary this week. Plenty of economists, especially in Britain and America, ...
A radical new strategy: kill fewer Muslims; Terrorism.
Jun 07, 2008 ... Al-Qaeda is under fire from inside radical Islam; sadly, the blood may merely flow elsewhere A BOMB exploded outside the Danish embassy in Pakistan's capital on June 2nd, killing at least half-a-dozen people. The same day another bomb struck a police headquarters in the Iraqi ...
A convenient truth, sadly ignored; Climate change.
Jun 07, 2008 ... A deal to be done between rich and poor countries on global warming is going begging IF ALL goes well, in 2011, a year before the Kyoto protocol expires, a new opera will open at La Scala in Milan. It will be based on "An Inconvenient Truth", the book and film about global ...
Do reform the justice system; Nigeria.(Nigeria's justice system)
Jun 07, 2008 ... More rough than justice Despite some advances, the justice system leaves much to be desired YUSUF MUSA recently stood before a court--for only the second time since his arrest last July for alleged cheating, forgery and breach of trust. The former car dealer had been ...
Don't make the desert bloom; Israel.(Israel's plans to get more water)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Milk and honey is all very well. But what about the water? THIS is the fourth consecutive year of drought in Israel. Last winter it rained only about 65% of the long-term average. The water level in the Sea of Galilee, the source of nearly 30% of Israel's fresh water, is close ...
Small country, big ideas; Qatar.(The clever diplomacy of Qatar)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Oil and clever diplomacy win friends and influence IN 1952, the year that Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani was born, Qatar had fewer than 40,000 people, most of them barefoot nomads and fishermen, and not a single school. The emirate he rules now hosts Education City, a complex ...
Can he win the election, again? Zimbabwe.(Grim prospects for Zimbabwe's runoff presidential election)(Morgan Tsvangirai)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Unbowed by government violence, Morgan Tsvangirai leads his bloodied opposition party back to the fray AS ROBERT MUGABE, Zimbabwe's president, raised hackles at a United Nations food summit in Rome this week), his henchmen at home have been getting down to the violent business ...
Yves Saint Laurent.(Couturier who liberated women)(Obituary)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Yves Saint Laurent, couturier, died on June 1st, aged 71 THE first intimation, apparently, was when three-year-old Yves told his mother that her shoes did not go with her dress. They were at home in Oran, a dull commercial town in French-ruled Algeria, where Yves's father sold ...
Hair today, hair tomorrow; Regenerative medicine.(Curing baldness)
Jun 07, 2008 ... La bella figura A cure for baldness THE success of Silvio Berlusconi's hair transplant, four years ago, relied on the fact that the septuagenarian prime minister had enough of a thatch on the back of his head to enable some of it to be transferred to his thinning ...
On the move; Cancer stem cells.(More evidence that stem cells cause cancer)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Organ-transplant data provide more evidence that stem cells cause cancer DOCTORS track the long-term health of organ-transplant patients in registries. Such registries make it possible to uncover trends or long-term problems in the population that may be missed in smaller ...
Getting the message; AIDS.(The latest from the war on AIDS)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Good news on treatment. Bad news on propaganda TO EVERY action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton's third law describes life as well as physics. Once it was only AIDS activists--those with the disease, or at high risk of getting it--who criticised the mandarins of ...
The fall of the House of Clinton; The post-mortem.(How Hillary fell)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Per astra ad ardua Getty Images Hillary Clinton has seen a nomination that was once hers for the taking slip from her grasp. How could it have happened? THIS time last year it looked as if Hillary Clinton's path to the Democratic nomination would be a ...
Her last hurrah; Puerto Rico.(Hillary Clinton's victory in Puerto Rica)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Hasta la vista Islanders have their tiny say HILLARY CLINTON'S caravana, a line of cars that drove through Puerto Rico on May 31st, forced bystanders to behold and be deafened. Thirty-two speakers blasted a salsa tune, "Hillary Clinton pa' presidenta". A flatbed ...
The English patients; California schools.(Bilingualism in California)(Proposition 227)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Structured immersion Alamy What happened after California abolished bilingual education TEN years to the day after California banned teaching in any language other than English, Erlinda Paredes runs through a new sentence with her kindergarten class. "El ...
Over at last; The primaries.(Barack Obama clinches the nomination)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. But it's a long way to the White House AFTER 16 arduous months, the race for the Democratic nomination is over. On June 3rd, after winning Montana, losing South Dakota and capturing a fresh gaggle of superdelegates, Barack Obama declared ...
Primary colour; On the campaign trail.(Primary colour)(Quotation)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Job seeker "I have a lot of respect and admiration for Senator McCain. I'm also intrigued by Senator Obama." Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary who fell out with George Bush. USA Today, May 30th Choose your sides "Yep." ...
Crises of faith; Lexington.(Religion and)(Barack Obama, John McCain)
Jun 07, 2008 ... Both Barack Obama and John McCain have problems with religion FEW Democrats have seemed more comfortable talking about God than Barack Obama has. And yet few, if any, have had more problems with God at the ballot box--from rumours that he is a Muslim to doubts among Catholic and ...
Trading dirt; Pollution law.(The Senate looks at pollution law)(cap-and-trade)
Jun 07, 2008 ... But George Bush says no A controversial bill on climate change goes before the Senate A MAN who is worried about global warming is pounded into the ground by falling oil barrels; another who is worried about rising energy bills tries to fry eggs over some candles; ...
Crisis? What oil crisis? Cars in Russia.
Jun 07, 2008 ... High oil prices may be causing pain for carmakers in America, but they have helped create a booming market in Russia THIS week the death-knell sounded for America's love affair with pick-up trucks and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs). General Motors (GM) announced a 30% fall in car ...
Unbound; Book publishing in America.
Jun 07, 2008 ... You're all doomed! Publishers worry as new technologies transform their industry JEFF BEZOS, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, destination for nearly four-fifths of online book buyers, appears harmless. But to some in the publishing industry, he looms like a ...
Battlechips; Microprocessors.(semiconductor industry)
Jun 07, 2008 ... As once-distinct markets start to overlap, chipmakers come to blows FOR YEARS the chip industry had only one story: AMD's David pitted against Intel's Goliath, as the two Silicon Valley firms fought it out in the market for microprocessors that power PCs and servers. But a ...