Emerging Market Crisis Series

Brazil looks almost ungovernable – but it's more robust than it seems

Mar 09, 2016 00:05 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

On Friday March 4, about 200 federal policemen and 30 tax auditors raided the apartment of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula), who was taken to Congonhas airport for a three-hour interrogation while...

Whether stored electronically or written on calf skin, knowledge has never been more threatened

Mar 08, 2016 23:57 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Information is constantly under attack. The current debate around the longstanding use of vellum (a parchment made using calf skin) for printing key legislative documents highlights the continued concern over this. Some...

Crash in oil prices will hurt the U.S. economy from Texas to Wall Street

Mar 08, 2016 23:52 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Traditionally, low oil prices have been a boost to economic growth in the U.S. The crash in oil prices over the past two years, however, has produced a decidedly mixed picture with potentially worrying implications for...

Why is it so difficult to rein in Wall Street?

Mar 08, 2016 23:49 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

Reforming Wall Street has become a key issue in the ongoing presidential primaries. Bernie Sanders in particular has used his rivals close ties to the financial industry, including speaking fees and political donations,...

US Election Series

How Donald Trump gets away with saying things other candidates can't

Mar 08, 2016 23:44 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

In an interview last month, George Stephanopoulos asked Donald Trump about his retweet of a follower who insisted that both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were ineligible for the presidency. Trump dismissed Stephanopoulos...

Australia's coal mines are pouring methane gas into the atmosphere

Mar 08, 2016 23:37 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Methane emissions are one of the major concerns surrounding coal seam gas. But we should also be paying attention to other sources of methane, in particular those from coal mining. By dealing with these we could make...

Why counting dead bodies in Syria is fraught with politics and imprecision

Mar 08, 2016 23:36 pm UTC| Insights & Views

In a chaotic situation such as the war in Syria, it is nearly impossible to provide precise numbers of those killed and wounded in the fighting. Assigning responsibility for the casualties is harder again. Nevertheless,...