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After 420 consecutive days of record high North Atlantic sea surface temperatures, on April 29th the temperature fell below 2023's record.

April 29, 2023: 20.89°C
April 29, 2024: 20.83°C

Of course, SSTs are still way above every year other than 2023.

Fascinating paean to English language.

New paper with George Yang: The Implications of a Declining Labor Force. Lots of papers have looked at the impact of a relative shift in working age populations. We look at the absolute shift to a smaller workforce. Its not great.

cgdev.org/publication/im…

Average cash price of a residential solar system in the US, according to Wood Mackenzie: $3.25 per watt.

Price in Australia: $0.62 per watt.

Absolutely shameful. There should be a coordinated national effort to solve this.

This is insanely good news.

For those keeping track, 660GW of solar panels per year is what we need to be producing — in 2030! — to get on a path to net zero.

It’s what China *on its own* is producing *right now* in 2024.

The government of Narendra Modi is systemically dismantling NGOs that support millions of poor Indians. This by Vishnu Padmanabhan is the most authoritative account of the assault.

economist.com/asia/2024/02/2…

My Banyan column on Pakistan's fraudulent election. The generals, the landlords, the tame judges who pull the strings of Pakistani democracy are taking increasingly desperate measures. Sooner or later, they will lose control. economist.com/asia/2024/03/1…

Bilahari Kausikan on the strategic challenge for Asian states, particularly with regard to the US and China. You need to deal with both - but you can’t rely on either.

How strong is India’s economy under Narendra Modi? economist.com/finance-and-ec… from The Economist

Do read this terrific piece by Tunku Varadarajan : Cricket Mata Ki Jai: Jingoism Lost in Ahmedabad on Sunday m.thewire.in/article/sport/…

My leader on how Bangladesh stopped turmeric from poisoning people - a great achievement and reminder that, even in grim times, human progress continues. Get the politics right - as Bangladesh did in this case - and humans are amazing at fixing problems.
economist.com/leaders/2023/1…

Pretty definitive now that Texas has more utility-scale solar than California

This is spot-on by Suresh Menon: 'Bedi was a traditionalist who was anti-establishment.'
And so is this: 'Bedi’s bowling was one of the most beautiful sights on a cricket field.'

My column on sport and geopolitics at the Indo-Pak game in Ahmedabad:

'After Rizwan was dismissed, jubilant Indians chanted “Jai Shri Ram”. Indo-Pak cricket was always charged. Never had the hostility seemed so unidirectional and detached from reality.'

economist.com/asia/2023/10/1…

Thoughts from me on the Cricket World Cup and Indian power ... plus our coverage of the Middle East crisis shows.acast.com/d556eb54-6160-… via Acast

My leader on a mounting crisis. Asian countries are increasingly getting old before they get rich. Thailand is an aged society. Parts of south India are grey-haired and aging fast.

economist.com/leaders/2023/1…

If Joe Biden understood cricket, he might be less enthusiastic about India's rise.
Its bullying approach to the cricket world, where India is already a superpower, is a worrying augury.
My piece: economist.com/asia/2023/10/0…

How carbon prices are taking over the world economist.com/finance-and-ec… from The Economist economist.com/finance-and-ec…

'Over the past 3 decades, we find almost no relationship...between GDP growth and employment growth for India (the coefficient is -0.11). Note that the developing country average is 0.3...a positive relationship between GDP growth and employment growth.' theindiaforum.in/economy/growth…