The Economist (US) back issues from December 2008:
Going pinker on the Plata; Argentina.(Gay tourism in Argentina)
Dec 06, 2008 ... It takes two men to tango A new destination for gay tourists "FIRST you step, then you change direction. Don't try to do both at the same time!" implores the instructor at La Marshall, a tango school in a sparsely decorated apartment in the centre of Buenos Aires ....
Fall of an opportunist; Brazil.(The trial of a Brazilian financier)(Daniel Dantas)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Justice for a controversial financier MANY bankers may be worried about whether some fancy product dreamed up during the bubble years might yet lead to a visit from the police. Daniel Dantas, a financier who has profited by operating at the opaque place where business and ...
A most un-Canadian caper; Canada.(Canada contemplates an opposition coup)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Stephen Harper's sudden stumble prompts the opposition to unite and could cause a change of government, a constitutional crisis--or both THERE are no tanks in the streets or protesters occupying the airport, but Canada is in the midst of political turmoil the like of which this ...
To the barricades; Peru.(Peru's politics of protest)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The politics of non-stop protest IN NAMING Yehude Simon, a moderate leftist, as his new prime minister in October, President Alan Garcia hoped to give new impetus to his unpopular government. Mr Simon duly presented an ambitious 64-page plan to protect South America's ...
Can this place be governed? Japan.(Japan's paralysed politics)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Aso misreads the signals If you think the economy is bad, just look at the politics IF SOME national leaders can be said to be having a good economic crisis, Japan's prime minister since September, Taro Aso, is not among them. The crisis is not only failing to ...
No dream team for Karzai; Afghanistan and the Obama administration.(Afghan doubts about Barack Obama)(Hamid Karzai)
Dec 06, 2008 ... When Joe and Hamid were pals Cynicism on the streets and a certain nervousness in the presidential palace BARACK OBAMA has promised to make Afghanistan his foreign-policy priority. But on the streets of Kabul his electoral triumph has been greeted with jaded ...
The world's headache; Pakistan and the Mumbai attack.(Pakistan: The world's headache)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Not 500,000 at the border this time Deny, co-operate and cross your fingers THE carnage in Mumbai stunned India and the world, and focused eyes on Pakistan. It is an "international migraine", said Madeleine Albright a former American secretary of state. "It has ...
Charter members; The Philippine constitution.(Debating the Philippine constitution)
Dec 06, 2008 ... It takes too many to cha-cha The pace quickens in an old dance ALTERING the creaking constitution of the Philippines is known in political circles here as charter change or "cha-cha". The idea is beguiling, but nobody has yet mastered the steps. Advocates of change ...
Pick of the pile; Books of the year.(Recommended readings)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The best books of 2008 covered the Iraq war, Chinese capitalism, Mississippi blues, fishing in Sweden, ayatollahs, human waste and the secret life of words Politics and current affairs The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State. By Noah Feldman. A ...
What we wrote; Books by Economist writers in 2008.(Recommended readings)
Dec 06, 2008 ... When we weren't in the office OUR policy is not to review books written by our staff or regular freelance contributors because readers might doubt the independence of such reviews. Some readers, however, have asked what books our journalists have produced. So here is a list of ...
Filling the gap; Community banking.(How to bring banking home)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Between high street and skid row there is work to be done CONSUMERS and small traders fed up with their high-street banks tend to despise the humble credit unions--financial clubs owned and run by their members--as an alternative, dismissing them as little more than a leg-up for ...
Strangers in the house; Police raid on Parliament.(The Met moves in on MPs)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Officers enter Parliament to root out a mole-groomer. Should this make Britons grateful or fearful? ILLEGAL immigrants guarding the prime minister's car; secret predictions of a looming crime-wave; security guards without the proper paperwork. In recent years a series of ...
Follow the money; Scottish politics.(How to make it work better)
Dec 06, 2008 ... A parliament with only pocket-money An attempt to make devolution work better creates as many problems as it solves WHEN the newly elected Labour government set up the Scottish Parliament in 1999, it was in part to deal with Scots' complaints that for 18 years they ...
Throw it out; DNA and human rights.(Limiting the scope of police databases)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Scraping up the evidence A court decision limits the scope of police DNA databases HOLDING DNA samples and fingerprints of suspects who are later acquitted, or have the charges against them dropped, violates their right to privacy, the European Court of Human Rights ...
Sow the wind; Measles and MMR.(The consequences of a health scare)(measles, mumps and rubella)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Glad to be jabbed The long-lasting consequences of a health scare FLEDGLING engineers learn about disasters like the 1988 Piper Alpha oil-rig fire or the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986 as a reminder of the dangers that attend their profession ....
Who's for the hot seat? Vacancy at the Met.(Picking the next chief of police)(Metropolitan Police Service)
Dec 06, 2008 ... London's police force needs a new boss THE Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, as London's top bobby is grandly known, has a beat that goes beyond the capital. His [pounds sterling]3.5 billion ($5.2 billion) budget and 50,000 staff are devoted partly to national matters: ...
Scissors and stone; Interest rates.(The Bank of England's decision)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The banking crisis is blunting the effect of rate cuts THE Bank of England, established in 1694, has never set the official interest rate below 2%. On December 4th it tumbled to that historic floor, last seen in 1951, as the bank cut the base rate by a full percentage point, ...
Clarification.
Dec 06, 2008 ... On the cover-wrap of our November 8th issue we used an image of a bull with a broken horn to advertise our special report on Spain. Grupo ...
Merkel counts her blessings; German politics.(After the Christian Democrats' congress)(Angela Merkel)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Under fire at home as well as abroad, Angela Merkel fortifies her political base inside the Christian Democrats TO CALL her embattled would be to exaggerate. But Angela Merkel is undeniably under pressure. In the face of wobbly banks and a swooning economy, Germany's chancellor ...
The tough go politicking; Poland.(The economy tests the government)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Tsk, tsk, Mr Tusk Poland's lightweight government is facing its first serious challenge IT IS more an election campaign than a government. Since he won power a year ago, Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, has seemed less interested in ruling the country than in ...
Courageous protesters; Restive Russians.(Fighting back at the Kremlin)
Dec 06, 2008 ... A few welcome hints of protest against the government by ordinary Russians THERE was neither pathos nor pride in his voice. And, by the standards of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian investigative journalist whose murder trial is now under way in Moscow, he did nothing ...
Builders' nightmare; Spain's property crash.(The bubble bursts)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The biggest risk would be to buy The housing bust gets ever bigger SPANIARDS are not used to housing busts. Since property seemed for so long to be a one-way bet, some still find it hard to grasp that prices can ever fall. Recently 2,000 people spent a chilly night ...
Flood warnings; Venice in peril.(More high waters)(Brief article)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Alta aquaplaning in St Mark's Square The high water in Venice confirms the city's fragility HAD the sirocco (the south wind that brings Venice its worst floods) not unexpectedly dropped and shifted direction on December 1st, it would have been much worse. As it was, ...
Villepin v Sarkozy; France's Clearstream affair.(Dominique de Villepin prepares for trial)
Dec 06, 2008 ... A former rival accuses the president of interfering in the judicial process POLITICAL rivalry, international arms-dealing, industrial intrigue, spookery, financial kickbacks: the Clearstream affair has all the appeal of a Hollywood blockbuster. Every twist in the four-year-old ...
Star struck; Buttonwood.(Troubled New Star embodies many sins)(New Star Asset Management)
Dec 06, 2008 ... A cautionary tale from within the fund-management industry "THE dullard's envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to a bad end." That line from Max Beerbohm, an Edwardian novelist, could almost have been dedicated to New Star Asset ...
Waiving or drowning? Corporate lending.(The corporate lending squeeze)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Even big firms are finding it tough to secure credit from the banks CONVENTIONAL wisdom says that it is better to be a large company than a small one when credit is tight. Bigger firms have more room for manoeuvre: they have access to more types of funding, they have more fat to ...
Passive aggression; Monetary policy.(The ECB cuts rates)(European Central Bank)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The ECB's biggest-ever cut looks timid WHEN the economy is sinking and inflation fading rapidly, is there any merit in cutting interest rates gradually? On December 4th the Bank of England again opted for boldness. It cut its benchmark rate by a percentage point, to 2%, ...
The teetotallers' hangover; Economics focus.(Germany and Japan need to stimulate demand)
Dec 06, 2008 ... High saving and low private-sector debt have not shielded Germany and Japan from recession PAUL KRUGMAN, the winner of this year's Nobel prize in economics, put his finger on something in the 1990s when he identified, and then ridiculed, the notion that a slump is a "necessary ...
Popping sounds; Global house prices.(Our house-price indicators make gloomy reading)
Dec 06, 2008 ... House prices are falling just about everywhere "WHAT happens here, stays here" is a slogan used to attract tourists to Las Vegas. Sadly, it is not true of the state of the city's housing market. In September, they were 31.3% lower than a year ago, according to an ...
Plumbing the depths; Oil.(OPEC's efforts to prop up prices may not succeed)(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
Dec 06, 2008 ... OPEC has its work cut out to stop the oil price from sinking further ENERGY analysts spent the first half of the year debating how expensive oil could get. Now they are asking the opposite question. On December 2nd the price of a barrel slipped below $47, the lowest level since ...
Wall Street's pawnbrokers; Year-end funding.(The demise of the investment banks complicates year-end funding)
Dec 06, 2008 ... For bankers, it is just as well Christmas comes but once a year MONEYMEN may be hoping for some rest as an atrocious 2008 draws to a close, but for bank treasurers the "turn" is the most fretful time of year. They are often holed up in the office, frantically trying to balance ...
Foreign direct investment.(Brief article)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The OECD expects the global economic crisis to weigh down foreign direct investment (FDI) in the second half of 2008. The inter-governmental think-tank forecasts that FDI inflows into its member countries will drop by 13% in the year as a whole and that outflows will fall by 6%. In the ...
Overview.(Brief article)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Global manufacturing is shrinking fast. In America, the Institute for Supply Management's index plunged from 38.9 to 36.2, the lowest level since 1982 (a reading below 50 indicates activity is falling). The weakness was mirrored by comparable surveys of purchasing managers in other rich ...
Hockey and hijab; Islam in urban America.(In one part of America, at least, Muslims are a force in local affairs)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Hamburg? No, Hamtramck Home to the auto industry--and American Islam THE gym at Bridge Academy is full of children playing floor hockey. Boys and girls squeal as they chase the puck; a helpless teacher looks on. A homely American scene, except that most girls wear the ...
The tragedy of the Commons; British politics.
Dec 06, 2008 ... The arrest of an MP underlines the importance of parliamentary privilege WHEN MPs are summoned to hear the queen open Parliament each year, the door of the House of Commons is at first slammed shut in the face of her representative. Coming just days after the extraordinary ...
A case for vigilance, not despair; Muslims in European cities.(Islam's growth in urban Europe needs to be managed carefully)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Europe's cities are finding ways of managing religious difference--but national governments must set the rules IN THEIR latest assessment of how the world will change between now and 2025, America's intelligence agencies had only one big point to make about Europe: the ...
After Mumbai; Dealing with Pakistan.
Dec 06, 2008 ... Even though the terrorists probably came from Pakistan, India should continue to keep its cool PEOPLE in India are describing last week's terrorist attack on Mumbai as India's September 11th. In many ways, the comparison is apt. Although the death toll, at about 190, is a ...
Where have all your savings gone?
Dec 06, 2008 ... Investors may draw the wrong lesson from history FOR American and European savers it has been a lost decade. After two booms and two busts, stockmarkets have earned them nothing, or less, in the past ten years. Low interest rates have made bonds and bank deposits unrewarding ...
A promised withdrawal; Ethiopia and Somalia.(Ethiopia says it will leave Somalia)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Ethiopia says its troops will be out of Somalia soon. Will they? And then? IT TOOK Ethiopia two weeks in December 2006 and January 2007 to invade Somalia and crush fighters loyal to the Somali Islamic Courts Union. By contrast, it has taken two years for it to decide to ...
An old has-been to the rescue? Iran.(A former president, Muhammad Khatami, may run for the job again)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The comeback kid? Might a reform-minded former president displace the current one? SEVEN months short of a presidential election, an immaculately robed Shia cleric living in comfortable semi-retirement is making Iranians hold their political breath. When Muhammad ...
The Muslims and Christians of Jos; Nigeria.(Sectarian killings in Nigeria)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The government of Africa's most populous country is slow to stem violence THE Katako market was still smouldering five days after it was razed to the ground by a mob of Christian youths. The bodies of ten people trapped in the fires that destroyed it had already been taken away ...
Reaching rock bottom; Zimbabwe.(Zimbabwe gets even worse)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Mugabe's friends or foes? When it looks as if things cannot possibly get worse, they do FOR the first time in a decade of political and economic meltdown, Zimbabwe's security forces have started to voice their anger. Twice in a week, a few dozen disgruntled soldiers ...
Jack Scott and Reg Varney.(In memoriam)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Jack Scott and RegVarney, two British icons of the 1970s, died on November 11th and 16th respectively, aged 85 and 92 STOICISM is something the British are world-famous for. They carry on; they make do; they seldom complain, but form an orderly line to take whatever Fate may ...
Watching and waiting; Astronomy.(The search for dangerous asteroids)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The search for dangerous asteroids is about to begin in earnest EVER since 1980, when Luis and Walter Alvarez came up with the idea that the dinosaurs had been wiped out when the Earth was hit by an asteroid, people have worried that something similar might happen again. Indeed, ...
Balls and brains; Evolution.(Intelligence predicts sperm quality)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The quality of a man's sperm depends on how intelligent he is, and vice versa THERE are few better ways of upsetting a certain sort of politically correct person than to suggest that intelligence (or, rather, the variation in intelligence between individuals) is under genetic ...
Going back in time; Circadian rhythms.(A cure for jet lag?)
Dec 06, 2008 ... A new drug may prevent jet lag THE curse of jet lag has struck most international travellers at one time or another--and anyone lucky enough to have avoided it will surely have suffered the equally unpleasant sleep-deprivation involved in an early-morning start. Nor, as shift ...
Just shut up, will you; Driving and mobile phones.(Hands-free is not risk-free)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Using even a hands-free phone while driving can be dangerous MANY countries have made it illegal to natter into a hand-held mobile phone while driving. But the latest research provides further confirmation that the danger lies less in what a motorist's hands do when he takes a ...
A really secret ballot.
Dec 06, 2008 ... Security: A variety of schemes to encrypt ballot papers should reassure voters and help to make elections more secure AFTER the hanging-chad fiasco in the American presidential election of 2000, caused by unreliable mechanical voting machines, and the refusal four years later of ...
Spinning a good tale.
Dec 06, 2008 ... The medical tricorder starts here Medicine: A quantum-mechanical effect used in hard disks may hold the key to the development of a hand-held biology laboratory BIOTECHNOLOGISTS have long dreamed of creating a "lab on a chip" that would pack the power of a full-scale ...
Green iron.
Dec 06, 2008 ... Environment: Treating industrial wastewater with scrap iron can be a cheap and effective way to reduce pollution from factories SCRAP conjures up visions of rusting junkyards on the wrong side of the tracks. But this image could soon be given a green makeover. Researchers have ...
How green is your network?(telecoms and energy conservation)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Environment: Telecoms firms are reducing the power consumption of their networks, for economic and environmental reasons LIKE many other industries, the telecoms industry is increasingly worried about its energy consumption and the associated carbon footprint. This is not just ...
Moving images into the future.
Dec 06, 2008 ... Entertainment: Digital-cinema projectors that use lasers rather than xenon lamps could lead to richer colours on the silver screen ONE reason people prefer watching films in cinemas to sitting at home with a DVD is that 35mm-film projectors render a richer range of colours, ...
Fresher cookers.
Dec 06, 2008 ... Technology and development: The humble cooking stove is being overhauled around the world with the help of "user focused" design IF USER demand were the sole driver of innovation, the biomass cooking stove would be one of the most sophisticated devices in the world. Depending ...
A stitch whose time has come.
Dec 06, 2008 ... What a surgeon's dreams are made of Medicine: A protein extracted from cows' blood could provide the best answer yet to the age-old question of how to sew up wounds FIFTY years ago a soldier injured on the battlefield would be sewn up by medics using sheep's gut. A ...
Quiet, please.
Dec 06, 2008 ... Military technology: Using rubber rather than steel tracks on military vehicles could reduce wear and tear on both soldiers and equipment RATTLING along in the "washing-machine environment" of an armoured personnel-carrier (APC) on steel tracks can shake the soldiers inside to ...
Marching off to cyberwar.
Dec 06, 2008 ... The internet: Attacks launched over the internet on Estonia and Georgia highlight the difficulty of defining and dealing with "cyberwar" AS RUSSIAN tanks rolled into Georgia in August, another force was also mobilising--not in the physical world, but online. Russian ...
Surviving the exaflood.
Dec 06, 2008 ... The internet: Predictions that an "exaflood" of traffic will overload the internet have been doing the rounds. But will it really happen? VIDEO killed the radio star. Might its next victim be the internet? The popularity of YouTube, BitTorrent and other online-video services ...
Enlightenment man.
Dec 06, 2008 ... Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google, believes knowledge is always a good thing--and that more of it should be shared A FORMER vice-president, Al Gore, and one of the co-founders of Google, Larry Page, were already seated on the stage of Google's "Zeitgeist" conference, an ...
Subject: Israel-Palestine; Barack Obama's BlackBerry.(Obama's BlackBerry: Israel-Palestine)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Another e-mail from the president-elect's inbox "THE big question is: do you want to end this conflict or just tamp it down? The arguments for the first are self-evident. Palestine fouls up our diplomacy: Israel is thrown at us whenever we ask Muslim allies for help. Unsolved, ...
The worm turns; Cyberwar.(Cyberwar in America)
Dec 06, 2008 ... A cyber-attack alarms the Pentagon BATTLEFIELD bandwidth is low at best, making networks sticky and e-mails tricky. American soldiers often rely on memory sticks to cart vital data between computers. Off-duty, they use the same devices to move around music and photos. The ...
If you go down to the woods today; Feral hogs.(The hog menace)
Dec 06, 2008 ... Millions more to go AUTUMN is a time for country walks, and, if you are that way inclined, for a spot of bang-bang. But hunters and hikers alike are liable to come face to face with a nasty surprise: a growing number of feral hogs, the destructive descendants of domesticated ...
Firewall erected; The Senate.
Dec 06, 2008 ... The Democrats will not now have a Senate supermajority ON A freezing election-eve in downtown Atlanta, T.I., a local rapper attired in large, shiny jeans sitting loosely well below his waist, orated on the steps of Georgia's state capitol. "The nation has appointed our leader," ...
City of the future; Urban development.
Dec 06, 2008 ... A rare opportunity to build an urban centre from scratch SCOTT SMITH likes to introduce himself as mayor of "the biggest city you've never heard of". Mesa is twice the size of Washington, DC, and has a population greater than Cleveland or Miami. This week the Arizona settlement ...
Searching for the promised land; Race in Obama's America.
Dec 06, 2008 ... What will Barack Obama's presidency mean for race relations? AS HE sat in a television studio in Alabama on election night, Artur Davis saw a white cameraman with tears in his eyes. It was while Barack Obama was giving his victory speech in Chicago. Of course it was an emotional ...
A thoroughly modern recession; The economy.(The nature of America's recession)
Dec 06, 2008 ... The current recession fits the pattern of recent ones--but is likely to last longer BUSINESS expansions, it used to be said, did not die of old age; they were murdered by the Federal Reserve. Yet with the official announcement on December 1st that America had entered recession ...