How can mobile payments in China be greater than GDP?

Jan 22, 2019
Some listeners balked when we reported $23 trillion in mobile payments there in 2016.
Mobile payments made through third-party providers like Alipay bring China's total mobile payment transactions in 2016 to around $38 trillion.
Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

Oxfam says tax cuts have benefited the rich

Jan 21, 2019
Oxfam, the international anti-poverty organization, released a report Friday on how the world’s billionaires and poor people are doing economically. And the short answer is: the former are up while the latter are down. Oxfam crunched the income and wealth numbers based on data from Forbes’ annual billionaires list and Credit Suisse’s “Wealth Databook.” The […]

Going cashless in Shanghai

Jan 15, 2019
Chinese mobile payment apps have surged in popularity. Could U.S. credit card companies compete?
A driver pays a highway toll using mobile payment method Alipay in Zhejiang province.
STR/AFP/Getty Images

Brexit looms — either with a deal or without

Jan 11, 2019
British lawmakers weigh the costs of leaving the EU without securing a deal.
Prime Minister Theresa May leaves Downing Street on March 23, 2017 in London, England.
Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Are consumers in China changing their spending habits?

Jan 11, 2019
We asked shoppers in Shanghai if they're feeling the economic slowdown.
Customers look at iPhones on display at an Apple Store on this month in Beijing.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Questions abound as World Bank seeks new leader

Jan 8, 2019
The head of the World Bank, Jim Kim, announced his resignation Monday — a surprise given that he’s still got a few years left on his term. So now the search is on to find his replacement. Traditionally, the World Bank’s been led by an American, while the International Monetary Fund has been run by […]

What to look out for in Europe in 2019

Jan 4, 2019
With Brexit looming and amid economic uncertainty, Europe faces some strong headwinds.
The Berlaymont building, the headquarters for the European Commission, in Brussels.
Mark Renders/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

'Roma' shines a light on the real lives of domestic workers

Jan 4, 2019
How Alfonso Cuarón's latest film set in 1970s Mexico resonates with domestic workers today.
Alfonso Cuarón and Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo on the set of "Roma" written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón.
Carlos Somonte

Trump says new NAFTA will pay for wall. Not likely.

Dec 19, 2018
President Trump seems to have softened his stance on border-wall funding as a make-or-break issue to avoid a government shutdown. Instead, he says Mexico will pay for the wall indirectly through the new NAFTA agreement, now known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). It’s an idea he’s mentioned more than a few times, but so […]

United Kingdom council hires its own "garbage queen"

Dec 19, 2018
Brighton is getting creative with its waste disposal methods.
Cat Fletcher, Brighton's "Garbage Queen," stands outside of the Waste House, clad with carpet tiles.
Courtesy of Mimisse Beard