Economy & Markets
Southeast Asia Could Become Indispensable to AI Without Becoming More Powerful
Southeast Asia may be winning the race to host the AI economy before it has answered a more uncomfortable question: how much power will...
The Yen Intervention Was Never About the Yen
The joint US–Japan yen intervention was not a currency-stability measure. It was Washington making sure Tokyo could keep funding its $550 billion commitment to...
Information Pollution and the Rise of the Trust Economy
The internet is going through a fundamental change. Information used to be scarce, and access to it was a source of power. Today, the...
The Market Isn’t Smarter Than the CIA. It’s Just Closer to the Leak
Six weeks before US and Israeli aircraft killed Iran's supreme leader on February 28, a cluster of new, previously dormant crypto wallets began buying...
How Extreme Climate is Reshaping Gulf Development Logic
As the United States-Iran conflict draws renewed global attention to energy security, a quieter transformation is underway. Driven by the combined effects of El...
U.S. Critical Minerals Strategy Should Also Consider Ownership Structures
The United States is making steady strides in a critical mineral race, which has been considered by some to be yesterday’s war that the...
Agentic Financial Fraud Is Becoming a Test of State Capacity
On 31 July 2026, OpenAI disclosed that it had disrupted a Cambodia-based criminal operation using ChatGPT to support investment, romance, gambling, and law-enforcement impersonation scams. The...
Why Are European Banks, Japan’s Bonds and Populism Shaping Markets?
This week's market headlines have been dominated by Gulf tensions, inflation, bond market concerns and renewed political pressure on the Federal Reserve. But beneath...
Oil and Gold Rise as Geopolitical Tensions Mount Ahead of US CPI
Oil and gold prices climbed on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions intensified ahead of key U.S. inflation data, while investors assessed the potential impact on...
Can Trump’s Fed Battle Threaten Bond Markets?
Political Pressure Puts Fed Independence Back in Focus
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's efforts to keep the central bank insulated from political pressure have become...