In 2001, Silvio Berlusconi was running for prime minister and produced what became a symbol of an epoch. On prime-time national TV, he signed his political manifesto promising to cut taxes, increase pensions and carry out a massive investment program. He went on to win that election and remained a central figure in Italian politics until the euro crisis forced ...

Singapore’s property market is in the throes of a 2008-type mania, with landlords squeezing tenants for the last possible cent. The previous bout of frenzy ended with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This time, too, stratospheric apartment rents will return to earth, though the process is unlikely to be as swift as the city-state’s expat community might hope for. Among ...

  Does an industrial-sized dog whistle go off when advocates boast about cryptocurrency’s ability to evade US government sanctions? Back in March, a founder of Tornado Cash — a so-called “mixer” service that masks cryptocurrency transactions by mixing them with others — told Bloomberg it would be “technically impossible” for sanctions to be enforced against decentralised protocols. Surprise: Tornado has ...