The Economist

Data mine
The launch of a markets and data channel on Economist.com allows us to present our data—the poll of forecasters, the Big Mac index, the house-prices index, our economic and financial indicators, as well as interactive guides and a world debt clock—all in one place

The future that never was
When Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet pilot, became the first man in space 50 years ago, humanity’s future as a space-faring species looked bright. Our slideshow illustrates some aspects of what was then a widely anticipated future and compares it with today’s reality

Jack of all trades, master of many
Nathan Myhrvold is the polymath’s polymath. A former chief technology officer at Microsoft, he now runs a controversial patent-licensing company, dabbles in dinosaur-hunting and nuclear power, and has written a 2,400-page, $625 cookbook. We had him in for tea

United States: Inequality and politics
Joseph Stiglitz’s rant about inequality distracts from the left’s own role in attracting big money to politics

Britain: Cycling in London
Bagehot looks at the curious appeal of a new law singling out reckless bicycling

Europe: France uncovered, it hopes
Attempts to remove religion from public life by banning Islamic garb will ensure that it remains part of political life

Middle East: Fleeing the fighting
A slideshow of the refugee crisis brewing on the border between Tunisia and Libya

Africa: A new hope
As Nigeria goes to the polls, Elizabeth Donnelly of Chatham House reflects on the prospect of fairer elections

Asia: Lost in the zone
Horses that survived the tsunami are abandoned to their fate inside the irradiated area around Fukushima

Technology: Aircraft fatigue
Why do some Boeing 737s seem to be coming apart earlier than expected?

Culture: Ai Weiwei’s digital rallying cry
The artist-activist used his blog to rail against a regime with no respect for the truth

Culture: Auction houses bite back
The art market learns the consequences of buyers, especially those from mainland China, refusing to pay up

Business education: Thinking simply
A strategy professor at London Business School looks at the management lessons of the Fukushima disaster

Business: Heads had to roll
A botched investigation into alleged corporate espionage results in the resignation of Renault’s respected chief operating officer