United States

Apple in China: iRobots

How you gonna keep 'em down on the assembly line(38)

Swiss banks and American taxes: Pawn sacrifice

Wegelin, the oldest Swiss private bank, is a mere pawn in a much bigger game being played between Switzerland and America over banking secrecy and tax fraud(6)

Fuel economy: Difference engine: Going along for the ride

People say they want more fuel-efficient cars, but few actually buy them(49)

The world order: The stakes of American hegemony

Our unprecedentedly wealthy, liberal world order will not only survive but thrive with relative American decline(47)

Weather derivatives: Come rain or shine

The outlook for the business of hedging against the elements(0)

Banyan: The devil in the deep blue detail

Fiendishly complex disputes in the South China Sea dangerously simplified(4)

The Republican nomination: The big bellwether swings for Romney

After a nasty loss in South Carolina, Mitt Romney is back in the front-runner’s slot thanks to a thumping victory in Florida(21)

America in Afghanistan: Outta here

After a decade in Afghanistan, the United States rushes for the exit(127)

Canada’s housing market: Look out below

After years of lecturing America about loose lending, Canada now must confront a bubble of its own(48)

Baseball in Latin America: Draft dodgers no more

Can the Dominican Republic avoid Puerto Rico’s fate?(5)

Politics this week

America’s retreat from Afghanistan: The spectre of comparisons

Attempts to accelerate the drawdown of Western troops in Afghanistan are tempting but misguided(22)

Buttonwood: The war on finance

Attacking your creditors is an intriguing strategy(13)

Lexington: The classes drift apart

Can the rich save the American dream by preaching what they practise?(226)

The politics of fairness: Fairly confusing

The president's rhetoric of fairness deserves critical, even sceptical, scrutiny(218)

Daily chart: Zugzwang

The Congressional Budget Office runs the numbers on America's deficit(95)

Debating economic policy: Stimulus, austerity and the weltgeist

The backwash from the euro zone hits the American economic debate(168)