Friday, October 23, 2026
7 stories
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced crypto founder, told The Economist from a California prison that he has paid his debts. The interview revisits the collapse of FTX and how its onetime tycoon frames his downfall.
The Economist argues that Brazil's economy, oddly configured and under-reformed, badly needs serious fixes. Neither President Lula nor his rival Flávio Bolsonaro, it says, shows the appetite to deliver them.
Multinational firms are losing faith in Indonesia despite its rich resources and huge population. The problem, The Economist argues, is a government it describes as a nightmare to deal with.
If AI displaces human workers, the losses will go beyond income, The Economist argues. Work carries meaning and social value that pay alone does not capture — and policy should reckon with that.
Indonesia's populist president Prabowo Subianto is squandering his early goodwill, The Economist says. His erratic policies are holding back a country that should be thriving.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are fuelling chaos in their own backyard, The Economist's leader argues. The Gulf powers should stop exporting carnage and start stabilizing the region.
Europe depends heavily on American satellites and must break that reliance, The Economist argues. Doing so will require the continent to drop old habits in how it funds and builds space capacity.