Finance & economics | ButtonwoodAn interview with the boss of UniCredit Photograph: Satoshi Kambayashi Oct 3rd 2024The career of Andrea Orcel vividly encapsulates the recent history of European banking. At Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America, Mr Orcel advised on deals that formed part of the wave of mergers that crested in 2007, when a pan-European...

Finance & economics | Free exchangeThere is no such thing as a strategic commodityIllustration: Alvaro Bernis Oct 3rd 2024Between August and October 1943 American warplanes repeatedly bombed Schweinfurt, in southern Germany. The Bavarian town did not host army HQs or a major garrison. But it produced half of the Third Reich’s supply of ball bearings,...

Finance & economics | Unaccountable accountsNew research suggests governments routinely hide their borrowingShadow financePhotograph: Getty Images Oct 3rd 2024How much money has Senegal borrowed? More than previously thought, according to Ousmane Sonko, who became its prime minister in April. At a press conference on September 26th he said the previous...

Finance & economics | Good-vibes rallyBut can the buying frenzy last?Illustration: Alamy/The Economist Oct 2nd 2024|ShanghaiIf Chinese retail investors had their way they would forgo the seven-day National Day holiday that ends on October 7th. An aggressive stimulus package, announced in Beijing on September 24th, has unleashed the biggest stockmarket...

Finance & economics | Block partyPrices look set to outpace wages for the foreseeable futurePhotograph: Getty Images Oct 1st 2024|San FranciscoAfter THE financial crisis of 2007-09, global house prices fell by 6% in real terms. But, before long, they picked up again, and sailed past their pre-crisis peak. When covid-19 struck, economists reckoned...

Finance & economics | Economic decoupling The country was slightly richer than Montana in 2019. Now it is just poorer than Alabama Photograph: AP Sep 30th 2024CANADA AND America’s economies are joined at the hip. Some $2bn of trade and 400,000 people cross their 9,000km of shared border every day. Canadians on the west coast do more day trips to...