The Economist Latin America October 5, 2019

Politics China staged a huge parade to celebrate 70 years of Communist rule. It involved more than 100,000 civilians, 15,000 troops and hundreds of weapons. Some of the equipment had not been shown in public before, including the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which can hit any part of America. But a “white paper” issued by China said the country had “no intention” of challenging the United States, or supplanting it. In Hong Kong, meanwhile, thousands of people marked the occasion as a “day of mourning” by staging an unauthorised march. Some people later clashed with police in several locations. A policeman shot a teenage student in the chest—the first injury involving live ammunition since pro-democracy unrest broke out in the city four months ago. Afghans voted in a presidential election. The Taliban had…

THE JOB of capital markets is to process information so that savings flow to the best projects and firms. That makes high finance sound simple; in reality it is dynamic and intoxicating. It reflects a changing world. Today’s markets, for instance, are grappling with a trade war and low interest rates. But it also reflects changes within finance, which constantly reinvents itself in a perpetual struggle to gain a competitive edge. As our Briefing reports, the latest revolution is in full swing. Machines are taking control of investing—not just the humdrum buying and selling of securities, but also the commanding heights of monitoring the economy and allocating capital. Funds run by computers that follow rules set by humans account for 35% of America’s stockmarket, 60% of institutional equity assets and 60%…

TEN YEARS ago this month George Papandreou, then the newly elected prime minister of Greece, announced to the world that the government’s books had been cooked and that the budget deficit in 2009 was in fact double previous estimates. Investors panicked and Greece lost access to capital markets, eventually forcing it to seek help from the European Union and the IMF. A severe financial crisis, together with swingeing spending cuts demanded by the creditors, plunged Greece into one of the deepest downturns experienced by a rich country since the second world war. Now another new prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is trying to get Greece back on its feet (see Finance section). Though the economy has begun expanding again, growth is lacklustre and output is nearly a quarter below its level in…

Politics China staged a huge parade to celebrate 70 years of Communist rule. It involved more than 100,000 civilians, 15,000 troops and hundreds of weapons. Some of the equipment had not been shown in public before, including the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which can hit any part of America. But a “white paper” issued by China said the country had “no intention” of challenging the United States, or supplanting it. In Hong Kong, meanwhile, thousands of people marked the occasion as a “day of mourning” by staging an unauthorised march. Some people later clashed with police in several locations. A policeman shot a teenage student in the chest—the first injury involving live ammunition since pro-democracy unrest broke out in the city four months ago. Afghans voted in a presidential election.…

IT IS TWO months now since India’s parliament abruptly amended the constitution to downgrade Jammu & Kashmir from a partly autonomous state to a territory administered by the central government. That means it is also two months since the Indian authorities detained some 2,000 prominent Kashmiris—politicians, businessmen, activists, journalists—to prevent them from protesting. They continue to be held without charge, many in unknown places. Meanwhile the 7m-odd residents of the Kashmir valley, the state’s main population centre, are under a lockdown of a different sort. Mobile phones and the internet remain cut off; getting around is hard and getting in or out is possible only on the authorities’ say-so. In theory the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is integrating Kashmir into the rest of India. In practice it has turned…

THE JOB of capital markets is to process information so that savings flow to the best projects and firms. That makes high finance sound simple; in reality it is dynamic and intoxicating. It reflects a changing world. Today’s markets, for instance, are grappling with a trade war and low interest rates. But it also reflects changes within finance, which constantly reinvents itself in a perpetual struggle to gain a competitive edge. As our Briefing reports, the latest revolution is in full swing. Machines are taking control of investing—not just the humdrum buying and selling of securities, but also the commanding heights of monitoring the economy and allocating capital. Funds run by computers that follow rules set by humans account for 35% of America’s stockmarket, 60% of institutional equity assets and…