THE ECONOMIST 經濟學人雜誌 2018/12/22 第51期

The end of the year is the one time when our cover design and our first leader part company. Our cover this week depicts a blue-and-white porcelain bauble decorated with a crane, an origami boat, a swimmer, an artist and much more—all feature in our double issue. 

 

 

Our first leader contemplates the uses of nostalgia. Politicians have always exploited the past but just now, rich countries and emerging economies are experiencing an orgy of reminiscence. Pessimism and nostalgia are powerful forces shaping today’s politics. To harness them, you must first understand them.

 

 

Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief 

   

EDITOR’S PICKS

Must-reads from the current edition

 

Saudi Arabia

A prince fails to charm

The country’s economic reforms are not attracting investors or creating jobs

[Middle East and Africa]

 

Peace offering

China plays nice

Tariff cuts and policy changes are designed to sustain the trade truce with America

[Finance and economics]

 

 

Goodbye, good chap

Britain’s chummy model of government is coming apart

And just when it is most needed

[Britain]

 

 

Mexico

Placating the masters of the universe

AMLO is trying to be a fiscally responsible populist

[The Americas]

 

 

Ovation nation

Our country of the year

Which place improved the most in 2018?

[Leaders]

 

 

CHRISTMAS SPECIALS

A selection from more than a dozen special features

 

A Russian tale

The inner workings of Vladimir Putin’s state

A set of illicit recordings reveal the fall of Alexander Shestun

 

 

It will never take off

The great Texas emu bubble

What if tulips had been six feet tall and ran at 50km an hour?

 

 

Lady Murasaki

The ghost of courtship past

A medieval romantic novelist returns to Japan and discovers how love has changed

 

 

Freshwater swimming

Cold comfort

Finding oneself in the rivers, lakes and ponds of England

 

From Bartleby to Bagehot

Our Christmas quiz

An opportunity for seriously curious readers to stretch their wits

 

 

THE WORLD THIS YEAR

America and China started a trade war, the world’s worst such dispute in decades. America imposed tariffs on ＄250bn-worth of Chinese products; China responded with tariffs of its own. America also slapped duties on steel imports from Europe, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere, infuriating its allies. Donald Trump intervened on national-security grounds to scupper a ＄117bn bid from Broadcom, a chipmaker with ties to South-East Asia, for Qualcomm. It would have been the biggest-ever tech merger. There was one de-escalation: America, Canada and Mexico struck a deal to update NAFTA.