Dawn of the solar age

The world this week

Politics
Business
KAL’s cartoon
This week’s covers
Leaders


The solar age
The exponential growth of solar power will change the world
An energy-rich future is within reach

The future of combat
AI will transform the character of warfare
Technology will make war faster and more opaque. It could also prove destabilising

French peril
Emmanuel Macron’s project of reform is at risk
A snap election in France reveals the flimsiness of his legacy

An unrealisable idea
How to tax billionaires—and how not to
Closing loopholes would be a better bet than a levy on unrealised capital gains

Raising Argentina
Javier Milei’s next move could make his presidency—or break it
Radical experiments with the currency could spell disaster

Power and politics in India
India should liberate its cities and create more states
It doesn’t need more government. It needs more governments

Letters

On competition law, old people and savings, green belts, New York, worms, equality, followership
Letters to the editor
By Invitation


Artificial intelligence
Ray Kurzweil on how AI will transform the physical world
Russia and the West
Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine is part of his revolution against the West
Briefing


Model major-general
How AI is changing warfare
An AI-assisted general staff may be more important than killer robots
Essay


The Sun machines
Solar power is going to be huge
Asia


Marriage of convenience
Vladimir Putin’s dangerous bromance with Kim Jong Un
Marriage of equals
Thailand legalises same-sex marriage
Banyan
The army-backed establishment in Thailand goes after its enemies
Governing 1.4bn people
Why India should create dozens of new states
China


Picking through the ice
China and Russia have chilling plans for the Arctic
School spirit
China wants to export education, too
Leave the Hermès at home
China doesn’t want people flaunting their wealth
Chaguan
China’s revealing struggle with childhood myopia

United States


Preparing for a takeover
Republicans are favoured to win the Senate. What would they do?
Freezing time
Are America’s leading presidential candidates up to it?
School of stocks
America is educating a nation of investors
On the trail in Colorado
Lauren Boebert’s primary is a window into everyday Trumpism
The second sex
New research exposes the role of women in America’s slave trade
Beyond the border
Legal immigration to America has rebounded
Lexington
Donald Trump has finally got it right about the January 6th insurrectionists
Middle East & Africa


From chaos to country
Is a Palestinian state a fantasy?
War in the Middle East
Israel’s northern border is ablaze
The light continent
Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa
The rainbow nation’s election
A remarkable new era begins in South Africa
The Americas


No pain, no gain
Javier Milei has turned Argentina into a libertarian laboratory
Europe


France’s parliamentary election
Emmanuel Macron faces heavy losses after a short campaign
The French parliamentary elections
A hard-right 28-year-old could soon be France’s prime minister
Crumbling firewalls
Hard-right parties are entering government across Europe
The spoils of war
Russia’s latest crime in Mariupol: stealing property
Growing old together
Why southern Europeans will soon be the longest-lived people in the world
Charlemagne
Europe today is a case of lots of presidents yet nobody leading
Britain


Britain’s general election
Britain’s Conservatives rule the Thames Estuary. Not for long
Filling the fiscal hole
What taxes might Labour raise?
Expectation management
Child poverty will be a test of Labour’s fiscal prudence
Death and salmon
Climate change casts a shadow over Britain’s biggest food export
Oh, Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn wants more nice things, fewer nasty ones
Without a care
The silence of the bedpans
Bagehot
Britain’s Conservatives are losing as they governed. Meekly
International


Attending university abroad
Brainy Indians are piling into Western universities
Business


Solar coaster
China’s giant solar industry is in turmoil
Dam good
Floating solar has a bright future
Powering up
India’s electronics industry is surging
Hot mess
The cautionary tale of Huy Fong’s hot sauce
Flying off the rails
European airlines are on a shopping spree
Nvidia
Nvidia is now the world’s most valuable company
Bartleby
Are manufacturing jobs really that good?
Schumpeter
Palmer Luckey and Anduril want to shake up armsmaking
Finance & economics


The great escape
Why house prices are surging once again
Bardella’s potential burden
How bad could things get in France?
Gridlock
Europe faces an unusual problem: ultra-cheap energy
Leviathan bound
Indian state capitalism looks to be in trouble
Sweet gains, bro
America’s rich never sell their assets. How should they be taxed?
Buttonwood
Think Nvidia looks dear? American shares could get pricier still
Free exchange
Is America approaching peak tip?
Science & technology


Dark secrets
The dominant model of the universe is creaking
Sweet spot
The secret to taking better penalties
Flower power
A flower’s female sex organs can speed up fertilisation
Paint by numbers
How physics can improve image-generating AI
Culture


Bottles up
Wine collectors are at last taking champagne seriously
Who are you calling a Neanderthal?
Theories of pre-history are a mirror on their times
Back Story
What a row over sponsorship reveals about art and Mammon
No city of angels
Los Angeles is the capital of film noir
When screens clean the green
Technology has changed money-laundering
Everything to play for
How games and game theory have changed the world
The Economist reads


The Economist looks at
How to stare at the Sun, through art
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
The Economist explains


The Economist explains
How America’s presidential debates are changing this year
The Economist explains
How political “cohabitation” works in France
Obituary


No witches in this world
Birubala Rabha fought to end the stigmatisation of women