Since former US President Donald Trump launched his trade war against China in 2018, Chinese leaders have gone from mocking the idea that the world’s two biggest economies might decouple, to worrying about losing access to American technology, capital and markets, to thinking that China might be better off disengaging from its main rival on its own terms. They ...

In late 2021, diplomats spent hours arguing over whether to “phase-out” or “phase-down” coal in the final communique of the COP26 climate change summit. Under pressure from China and India, the watered-down second choice prevailed. Still, it was good enough for the United Nations to proclaim that the dirtiest fuel was being “consigned to history.” Nothing is further from reality. ...

  With UK retail price inflation over 7%, there is clear justification for the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee to deliver a second consecutive interest rate hike to 0.50% at its upcoming meeting on February 3. Sadly for the average person, it is more likely to be felt in higher borrowing costs than actually securing anything much above zero ...