In the annals of economic experimentation, India’s cash ban will stand out. Not because it was ill-advised, poorly executed or unsuccessful in achieving its original aims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to outlaw 86% of his country’s currency a year ago today was all those things. What made it remarkable, though, was the way it flew against the zeitgeist. While ...

In Africa, the plastic shopping bag is an endangered species. Last week, tiny Benin became the latest African country to restrict the import, production and even use of such bags. It’s not messing around, either. Following in the steps of Rwanda (where plastic bag importers are publicly shamed) and Kenya (where bags users can be subject to four years in ...

Let’s not mince words: Eight months after Snapchat went public, the company is a disaster. Parent company Snap Inc. turned in its third earnings report as a public company, and for the third time its shares tanked when both revenue and user growth were disappointing. Snapchat also disclosed it would change the fundamental character of its app—the sole significant revenue ...