An assessment of Donald Trump’s record on trade

Oct 24th 2020WASHINGTON, DC“WE WILL stand up to trade cheating,” Donald Trump promised in 2016. He pledged to end “the era of economic surrender” and put America first, even if that meant kicking others down. He said he would renegotiate “horrible” trade deals bilaterally, scorning any larger agreement “that ties us up and binds us down”. International...

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Leaders in the Middle East are watching the polls in America

Oct 24th 2020BEIRUTRESIDENTS OF THE Middle East sometimes quip that they deserve voting rights in America. For decades, after all, American presidents have pursued wars, sanctions and other schemes in the region. The current occupant of the White House is no different. Donald Trump’s first term has been marked by conflict with Iran, one that has brought...

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What Donald Trump did for hydrocarbons

Oct 24th 2020NEW YORKAS LEADERS IN Europe and China push their countries towards clean energy, Donald Trump is proud to tug in the opposite direction. In 2016 he promised to save American coal. In 2020 he has championed “energy dominance” and cast himself as fracking’s last defence against a looming leftist assault. Indeed, Mr Trump would seem to be...

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Meet NextEra, America’s most valuable energy firm

Oct 24th 2020NEW YORKTO MANY INVESTORS, backing an American oil company looks only slightly shrewder than stuffing cash in a blender. Facing covid-19 and old concerns over low returns, the industry is scrambling to boost efficiency. On October 19th ConocoPhillips said it would pay $9.7bn for Concho Resources, a Texan fracking firm. The next day two...

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Mining for votes in Montana

Oct 24th 2020BIG TIMBER, MONTANATHE RESIDENTS of Big Timber, a mining town near the Crazy Mountains in Montana, can’t wait for the elections to end. Campaigning is too exhausting. Each day they must empty a dozen glossy political pamphlets from overstuffed letterboxes. Local television news is interrupted 15 times every half-hour by candidates’ 30-second...

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If Donald Trump were to win re-election, how would he do it?

Oct 24th 2020WASHINGTON, DCAROUND THIS time four years ago, on October 28th 2016, the then director of the FBI, James Comey, announced the discovery of new emails that might be pertinent to his investigation into Hillary Clinton. Her polling lead in mid-October had been almost as big as Joe Biden’s is now. Twelve days later she was giving a concession...

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The pandemic has exposed South-East Asia’s poor governance

Oct 24th 2020IT HARDLY FOLLOWED the script intended by Thailand’s army-backed government. In the face of growing demonstrations calling for the resignation of the prime minister, a new constitution and a reformed monarchy, on October 15th the government imposed a “severe” state of emergency, banning gatherings of more than five people. Far from being...

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How can people preserve their mental health in the covid era?

Oct 22nd 2020THE TEXAN research professor, podcaster and adviser to CEOs explains how to preserve mental health in the covid-19 era. Anne McElvoy asks what her study of isolation shows about the effects of pandemic restrictions. She explains the effects of fear during lockdowns and how our neurobiology makes us seek a sense of control. She argues the...

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What the armed forces can teach business

Oct 24th 2020WHEN CAPTAIN Gareth Tennant was patrolling with the Royal Marines in the Gulf of Aden in 2010, his team intercepted some Somali pirates on two skiffs. The pirates’ weapons were confiscated and the marines waited for clearance to release their prisoners. The plan was to tow the ne’er-do-wells back to Somali waters. But the pirates misread...

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A jihadist beheading spurs the French to defend secularism

Oct 22nd 2020PARISIN A COURTYARD at the Sorbonne, the paramount French symbol of learning, President Emmanuel Macron on October 21st paid homage to a teacher slain “for embodying…the freedom that is transmitted and sustained at school.” Samuel Paty (see Obituary) was a middle-school history teacher in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a genteel town north-west...

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