Make austerity great again!

Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, is one of the few bright stars in the vast, dead, black, cold and empty universe of politics. Whatever else can be said about him, that star is rising. Milei led h

“I will have everyone work like a horse,” declared Sanae Takaichi shortly before taking over as Japanese prime minister in October. Takaichi’s vow to “work, work, work, work, work” has been selected a

Global markets and the new illiberalism

“Markets appear to have their mojo back,” says The New York Times Dealbook. Shares on Wall Street wobbled at the end of last week, with even strong results from AI chip champion Nvidia failing to calm

“All government leaders know what to do. They just don’t know how to get re-elected if they do it.” Jean-Claude Juncker, the former president of the European Commission, said little of note in his pol

What’s going on? The nation has a newish leader, elected on a wave of muted enthusiasm – or at least a sense that he couldn’t be as bad as the last lot – but who has quickly proved a disappointment in