# data[].attributes.body
As you know, Keir Starmer is being forced out as Prime Minister. Yesterday he announced £15bn of extra defence spending; today, it seems that the government doesn't have the money to pay for it. Just a mistake or deliberately making it difficult for the next PM?

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Burnham’s chancellor will have to find extra £4.7bn for defence, says minister

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Luke Pollard says the next chancellor “whoever that may be” will have to “find the resources” to fund defence plan.

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As you know, Keir Starmer is being forced out as Prime Minister. Yesterday he announced £15bn of extra defence spending; today, it seems that the government doesn't have the money to pay for it. Just a mistake or deliberately making it difficult for the next PM?

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Burnham’s chancellor will have to find extra £4.7bn for defence, says minister

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Luke Pollard says the next chancellor “whoever that may be” will have to “find the resources” to fund defence plan.

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Trump made more than $1bn from crypto in first year back in office

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The president’s crypto income far outpaces his earnings from real estate and Trump-themed items such as watches.

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Very interesting article (from a free market perspective) about plans for the UK govt to only give contracts to UK firms, and how this might anger our trading partners. Do you think it is a good idea?

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Burnham’s Buy British plan could kill his EU dreams

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An official preference for domestic firms also risks a US trade war

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Has to be the biggest failure in a UK government economic policy this century

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HS2 bill could rise to £102bn with first trains delayed until 2039, government admits

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Transport secretary Heidi Alexander blames Conservative government for ‘obscene increase in times and costs’

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Fascinating account of why the Irish economy may not be quite as strong as it seems

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Irish economic miracle explained: Why all that glitters isn’t gold

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Ireland’s GDP soared 12.3% in 2025 — but it was a mirage. Pharma multinationals front-loaded €25.4bn of exports to the US in March alone, ahead of Trump’s tariffs. Now the first quarter of 2026 sees a contraction.

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Excellent last minute high level monetary policy knowledge

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Bank of England says QE programme to cost taxpayer £125bn

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The Bank of England has hiked its estimate for the total cost to the taxpayer of its historic quantitative easing programme to £125bn

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Never released that Chinese banks were so dominant in the global finance sector

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This story has massive implications for both the future of the UK workforce (rising inactivity rates) and of government finances (rising health care expenditure)

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UK healthy life expectancy falls by two years in past decade

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Poor housing, obesity and the effects of deprivation have been suggested as underlying cause.

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How long the effects may be - maybe 8 months until full effects on prices... very good ev point.

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UK steps up plans for potential shortages caused by Iran war

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Officials are monitoring stock levels and planning for any potential disruptions to the supply chain.

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Lots of very useful details

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Unlucky chancellor? Iran shock hits Reeves just as UK seemed to turn corner

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The economy and public finances were on the right path, bond yields were falling, interest rates likely to drop further … then came the US-Israeli attack

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Write down your top 10, bet no one gets them all!

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Top 10 Most Educated Countries in the World in 2026, No. 6 Will Surprise You!!

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has named its top 10 most educated countries in the world in 2026.

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Some interesting comparisons with the UK - some much smaller places like Belgium / Hong Kong / Singapore / Taiwan export more. Netherlands almost twice more. They often have a very large current account surplus. Why do you think that is? Can't all be tulips.....!!

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Very useful piece about the possible consequences of cutting foreign aid.

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Cuts to overseas aid will worsen shocks to global economy, David Miliband says

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Exclusive: Former UK foreign secretary says poor and rich countries alike will be hit amid humanitarian crisis sparked by Iran war

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This is absolutely perfect for the topic of World Bank and development aid. Hugely recommended for those about to take final exams

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Read this article from theatlantic.com with Smry

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The great news - UK GDP grew by an amazing 0.5% in February. The not so great - the Iran war is predicted to have a bigger negative effect on the UK than any other major economy.

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UK economy grew 0.5% in February, beating economists’ expectations by a long shot

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Economists polled by Reuters expected U.K. gross domestic product (GDP) to have expanded by 0.1% month-on-month.

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Interesting in itself but EXTREMELY useful as an example of the tension between allowing imports while encouraging FDI.

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Why Britain shouldn’t fear the rise of Chinese car imports

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The UK government believes the rise of China’s car industry could be good for UK consumers and industry.

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This might perhaps be the way to end global extreme poverty? (By the way if you didn't know, all CLC students can get a free subscription to The Economist, Teams message me if you don't know how.)

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An age-old problem might have a surprisingly simple solution

Illustration: Álvaro Bernis

A WORLD FREE of poverty would once have sounded fanciful. For most of human history it was barely even imaginable. Around 1800, when more than eight in ten people were destitute, Thomas Malthus, a particularly dismal dismal scientist, insisted it was an iron law that "Some human beings must suffer from want." Herbert Spencer, similarly cheerless and an early contributor to The Economist, cast poverty as the "survival of the fittest". The pessimism was not confined to gloomy Englishmen such as these two. The idea that poverty could be eliminated scarcely appears in print before the mid-20th century. Even Jesus, in three of the Gospels, tells his followers that the poor will always be with them.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline "The price of a miracle"

From the April 11th 2026 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
⇒ Explore the edition

In the short run, a bit. In the long run, a lot more

A a coup, a conspiracy and even a (possibly unrelated) corpse

The collision will not be pretty

Residual risks and ruined infrastructure will keep prices high

Buttonwood

Markets are calling time on many Donald-adjacent bets

Soaring prices for fertiliser and fuel could cause a global food shock

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Research suggests ending extreme poverty would cost $318bn annually, or 0.3% of global GDP, using machine-learning algorithms to target cash transfers more effectively. | Finance & economics

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11 firms are worth $1 trillion or more, have you heard of all of them? If/when Space X goes public, it would be the 12th. By the way, these values are what is called "market cap(italization)" which is the price of one share in the company * the total number of shares.

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Shell to earn between $200 to $700 million more this year so far is no surprise. The surprise is that most of it will be in its renewables division. The article doesn't say why - can you figure it out?

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Shell oil trading profits soar amid Iran war but Qatar strikes hit gas output

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Earnings at renewable energy division expected to soar to between $200m and $700m in first quarter

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A strong anti minimum wage rise point of view.

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The rising minimum wage is crushing Middle England

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Sir Keir Starmer’s first 19 months in office have been defined by two wars. Not the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, but instead his party’s long-running vendettas against the price mechanism and the middle classes.

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Excellent in depth Micro article about OJ.

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Why supermarket prices really became sky high in the UK

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Butter, chocolate, coffee and milk have all seen prices rocket. Tracing back through the story of one particular supermarket staple begins to explain why

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These predictions about AI's future economic impact seem very plausible to me: there is some good news amongst the bad....

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A Yale economist says AGI won’t automate most jobs—because they’re not worth the trouble | Fortune

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Pascual Restrepo’s new NBER paper argues it’s not about what AI can do. It’s about what AI will bother doing—and most human work doesn’t make the cut.

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2.7m people affected. More income but higher prices, which effect outweighs the other?

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Minimum wage rises to £12.71 an hour as firms warn of impact

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Many businesses have said they will have to pass higher wage costs onto customers.

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Fascinating and scholarly article about UBI. I never knew it's historical roots and how comparable they are to todays AI revolution.

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Basic income’s appeal today is similar to its roots in 18th-century England – it’s a way to compensate people for a common good taken for private gain

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Today’s basic income proponents say cash payments would be good for everyone. In the 1790s, the idea’s inventor argued something else: It was owed to everyone.

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Good sense check on what the current level of UK Unemployment means. 5.2% is high for the UK itself compared to its own recent history, but below the European average, much less than similar countries like France and Spain, and almost half the rate in Finland. Surprised that Russia's is so low...

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Oil prices now $117 a barrel, risen by 60% since the start of the conflict.

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Holly Williams, Press Association Business Editor

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Oil prices surge as hopes fade for swift end to Iran conflict

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The cost of crude lifted more than 3% to 117 US dollars a barrel at one stage in Monday morning trading.

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The two child benefit cap is being scrapped in April. This article talks about it and has lots of other useful detail about the UK benefits system.

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End to two-child benefit cap offers £300-a-month lifeline to cash-strapped families

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From 6 April, low-income families can claim universal credit payments for all children living in the household

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Very relevant for Development questions - since 2000, extreme global poverty (those earning less than $3 a day) has more than halved from 2.2 bn to less than 1bn. Unfortunately, the prediction over the next 20 years is for it either remain the same or rise.

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The world has made huge progress in reducing extreme poverty; could this be coming to an end?

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At the turn of the millennium, 2.2 billion people in the world lived in extreme poverty. In international statistics, this means they survived on less than $3 per day (in today’s money).

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As well as very interesting in itself, this article is a mine of information for Micro real-world examples.

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Smoking ban in Scotland’s pubs was a ‘PR war’ - but has it saved lives?

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Exactly 20 years ago, Scotland became the first part of the UK to outlaw smoking in bars, restaurants and offices.

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Everyone will be waiting with fear and excitement this time next month for March's inflation figures....

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UK inflation steady at 3% in February as energy shock clouds outlook

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UK inflation steady at 3% in February as energy shock clouds outlook

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The UK minimum wage does seem to be one of the highest in Europe. One reservation I would have about this is that for some of the countries that do not have national minimum wages - especially Scandinavian - it would probably be higher than the UK if they did.

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The huge size of the US national debt is incredible and difficult to comprehend....

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It took 200 years for national debt to hit $1 trillion, annual interest alone now exceeds that—a ‘crushing legacy we must reverse,’ says budget chair | Fortune

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“Here’s the sad, sobering, and stunning truth: despite the urgency of our fiscal crisis, Congress is paralyzed—unable to meet the urgency of the moment.”

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UK gender pay gap - 13% and falling. UK gender wealth gap - 21% and rising.

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Why the gender wealth gap is still so stubborn – and what it means for women’s wellbeing

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Often, it might just come down to a lack of confidence.

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Quick to read summary of the 2026 World Happiness Report, not just about Cyprus!

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Cyprus falls again in world happiness rankings report

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Cyprus fell to 62nd place out of 147 countries surveyed in the 2026 World Happiness Report published on Thursday. Cyprus continued its decline in the rankings, from 39th in 2019, 43rd in 2023 and 50th in 2024. The report, compiled by the wellbeing research centre at Oxford University with polling…

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Taiwan GDP growth forecast to be 7.28% this year, largely due to tech and AI industries.

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Central bank ups GDP growth forecast, eases selective credit controls - Focus Taiwan

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Taiwan’s central bank on Thursday sharply raised its forecast for growth in Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) for 2026 to 7.28 percent, while easing selective credit controls in the home market.

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Interesting article which reveals a lot about Irish trade. Over half of their export revenue comes from "Chemicals and Related Products", which includes pharmaceuticals, and most of this to the USA. Ireland is famous for attracting US tech firms, but it seems US Biomedical giants are more important.

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Sharp drop in Irish exports for the beginning of 2026

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Ireland’s goods exports fell sharply at the start of 2026, driven by a steep drop in pharmaceutical shipments, according to new figures from the Central

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The economic effects keep on getting worse....

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Bank keeps interest rates on hold and warns the war will push up inflation | ITV News

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The Bank of England voted unanimously to keep interest rates at 3.75% and warned the war in the Gulf is putting upward pressure on prices. | ITV National News

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Anti-orthodoxy point of view by a UCL Prof arguing that raising interest rates aren't the right solution to cost-push inflation

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Interest rates are not the tool to solve the inflation caused by the US’s war with Iran | Josh Ryan-Collins

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We’ve been here before with Covid and Ukraine. Making borrowing more expensive won’t work – only price controls, caps and public ownership can do that, says Josh Ryan-Collins, a professor at UCL

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Very interesting Micro article about how Reese's have changed their ingredients due to market pressures - but do they still taste as delicious?

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Springtime in Pennsylvania is peanut butter egg season. This year some consumers may taste the eggs a bit more critically and scrutinize the ingredients and label more carefully.

Reese's, a Hershey brand, is known for combining chocolate and peanut butter in delicious and iconic ways. Reese's products come in a variety of formats, called "line extensions." These include everything from peanut butter chips for baking and chocolate peanut butter popcorn for snacking to limited-time offers for holidays - such as the popular Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs for Easter.

Business Wire/AP

On Feb. 14, 2026, Brad Reese, grandson of the founder, issued an open letter criticizing the Hershey Company for introducing line extensions - in this case, mini hearts for Valentine's Day, with the flavors familiar to Reese's lovers but made with cheaper ingredients, such as " chocolate candy" and "peanut butter creme."

Ingredients like these seem similar but do not meet the FDA standards of identity for milk chocolate and peanut butter, the key components of the original Reese's cups. For example, the FDA standard for milk chocolate requires at least 10% chocolate liquor.

Hershey responded in a statement: "As we've grown and expanded the Reese's product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes and innovations that Reese's fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese's unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter."

I am a certified research chef and food and hospitality professor in Philadelphia, where I founded the Drexel Food Lab, a culinary innovation and food product development lab. I am also a huge fan of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. When my older daughter was a toddler, learning her colors and shapes, I trained her to organize her trick-or-treat loot by separating the orange squares for dad.

As someone with decades of experience in product formulation, I am not surprised that the ingredients for some Reese's products have changed over the years. One of my first jobs as an intern in corporate R&D was formulating cost reductions for existing products and later developing cost-effective line extensions building on the brand equity of the original product. What Hershey is doing with the Reese's brand is Consumer Packaged Goods Marketing 101.

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

How food manufacturers deal with rising costs

Much has changed in the marketplace since Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were developed by H.B. Reese in 1928 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about two hours northwest of Philadelphia.

Inflation, tariffs, labor costs, fuel costs, employee benefits, competition and the vulnerability of climate-threatened crops, such as cacao, vanilla and sugar - none of which are produced anywhere near Pennsylvania - have made the confectionery business increasingly challenging.

When faced with rising costs, food manufacturers have three options:

1. Shrink the product. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups have gradually shrunk from 0.9 ounce in the 1980s to 0.75 ounce today. That's a 17% reduction. This phenomenon has been dubbed " shrinkflation."

2. Raise prices. There is certainly a market for premium peanut butter cups, but how much will a consumer pay for the Reese's brand? $5? $10? I suspect most consumers expect a single serving to be a couple of bucks at most.

3. Lower costs. While the company can improve operational efficiencies, changing the formula to reduce or eliminate high-cost ingredients is a standard industry practice to keep prices consistent for consumers in the midst of a dynamic supply chain. This phenomenon has been dubbed " skimpflation" and is Brad Reese's main complaint.

Reformulations are common in the food industry. In addition to prices rising in general, a supplier could go out of business or have a shortage. A regulatory change or shift in consumer sentiment might prohibit the use of an ingredient. Wars, tariffs or climate change can raise costs temporarily or permanently.

Reformulations can be done well

Sensory and food science tools that we teach in our Drexel culinary and food science programs help ensure little market disruption and a consumer mostly unaware of the changes.

For example, a consumer discrimination test that food product developers love is a called the triangle test. Two samples from the original formula and one sample from the new formula - or vice versa - are presented to the consumer. If the consumer can identify the different one, the product developer did a poor job in preserving the beloved brand through the reformulation. But if consumers can't tell the difference, the reformulation may be able to move forward.

John T. Barr/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Sometimes product developers get it wrong in introducing a new formulation. Some of us are old enough to remember Crystal Pepsi, the McLean Deluxe burger or Doritos made with olestra. These products failed, respectively, due to lack of defined consumer benefit, misalignment with the brand, and bad press due to digestive side effects.

But most reformulations go unnoticed - the good work of food technologists who strive to keep food safe, affordable and delicious for consumers.

So, are these new Reese's products inferior to the original? Maybe. Like with taste in art or wine, if it tastes good to you, it's good. If not, vote with your wallet, or send the company a note like Brad Reese did.
Read more of our stories about Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, or sign up for our Philadelphia newsletter on Substack.

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Controversy over Reese's ingredients reveals standard food industry practices most consumers never notice

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Product reformulations are common in the food industry, and they can be done well, or poorly. Who remembers Doritos with olestra?

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China "produces more oil than Kuwait or the United Arab Emirates.... The problem is that China consumes more energy than America, Russia and India combined—an amount that dwarfs its domestic output." (You may need to activate your free College Economist subscription to read this.)

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Taking the very long run view - out of the last 2000 years, for 1800 of them China and India have had the largest share of world GDP.....

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Ray Dalio sees a pattern that shows China killing America’s economy. This 2,000-year chart explains why | Fortune

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A Bank of America Institute analysis of 2,000 years of GDP data reframes American exceptionalism — and points toward what comes next.

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Very useful development case study. From one of the poorest countries in Europe, to higher GDP per capita than Japan and a bigger economy than Switzerland

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Poland is now among the world’s 20 largest economies. How it happened

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Poland once was in economic ruins when communism fell more than three decades ago. Now it’s the 20th largest economy in the world.

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Absolutely fascinating article about the difficulties for young unemployed peope (trigger warning: some went to good universities...)

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Young people want to work: now there may be jobs for them | Polly Toynbee

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I spent a week at a London jobcentre. Those I met were smart and eager to work – and now they have a government willing to help them, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

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A long read that is fascinating, infuriating and terrifying

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What was Doge? How Elon Musk tried to gamify government

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The long read: Steeped in gaming and rightwing culture wars, Musk and his team of teenage coders set out to defeat the enemy of the United States: its people

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Chance of US recession in next year 49%, will rise quickly unless Middle East situation eases

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Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, has warned that a recession may be difficult to avoid if oil prices remain elevated.

The analyst based this warning on the firm's machine-learning-based leading economic indicator, which currently puts the probability of a recession within the next 12 months at 49%.

The increase has been driven largely by weakening labour market data, alongside broader signs of softness across key economic indicators since late last year.

However, in a March 16 post on X, Zandi noted that rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, particularly involving Iran, have further heightened risks by pushing oil prices higher.

In this context, energy prices remain a critical factor in recession forecasting, with historical patterns showing that most post-World War II downturns, excluding the pandemic recession, were preceded by significant spikes in oil prices.

"Despite mounting evidence that the economy is struggling and recession risks are high, economists will be loath to utter the word 'recession'. Many were sure a downturn was imminent in the wake of the Fed's monetary tightening a couple of years ago, vocally said so, but were wrong. However, if oil prices remain elevated for much longer (weeks and not months), a recession will be difficult to avoid," Zandi said.

Past lessons on oil and recession

While the modern economy is less structurally vulnerable to energy shocks than in the past, higher oil prices continue to weigh heavily on consumers, eroding purchasing power quickly. This comes as households are already showing increased caution in their spending.

Although economists have been hesitant to signal an imminent downturn after earlier recession forecasts proved premature during the period of monetary tightening, sustained elevated oil prices over the coming weeks could intensify economic strain, increasing the likelihood of a recession.

Notably, his warning comes as Brent crude oil prices have climbed nearly 50% since late February, trading around $103 per barrel, after brief spikes above $110, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran that is disrupting Middle East energy supplies.

This has been driven by Iranian actions, which have effectively halted most tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for about 20% of global oil trade, forcing Gulf producers to slash output by millions of barrels per day. The IEA has called it the largest oil supply disruption in history.

To this end, U.S. gasoline prices have jumped, pushing inflation higher and raising costs for transport, food, and goods. Economists warn of slower global growth, with risks of stagflation if disruptions persist.

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Recession 'difficult to avoid' if this commodity prices remain high, Moody's economist warns

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Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, has warned that a recession may be difficult to avoid if oil prices remain elevated.

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Extremely interesting blog post that develops the spec idea about the limitations of GDP figures

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Everyone is told that economic growth is the key to prosperity.
But what if a significant part of GDP, the number politicians obsess about, is based on a transaction that never actually happens?
Around 10% of UK GDP is made up of something called “imputed rent.” This is the imaginary rent homeowners…

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Zero growth now, inflation to come = what economists call "stagflation" (stagnation + inflation)

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UK economy unexpectedly flatlined in January, official figures show

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January’s GDP figure comes as higher energy prices look likely to drive up inflation, dashing hopes of interest rate cut

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Excellent 8 minute video about the situation of oil supply in the Middle East and the economic implications

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Oil prices surge past $100 per barrel as Iran war closes world’s biggest energy terminals

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UK inflation is now expected to hit 3.3% if the crisis continues, forcing interest rates up and making mortgages more expensive for millions of households.

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Spanish economy (3% GDP growth 2025) offers work visas to illegal immigrants

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Spain’s migrants welcome amnesty: ‘It will help us in every way’

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Madrid cites humanitarian and economic reasons to give undocumented workers legal status.

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If you are in my SFC1 classes, the next topic is going to be unemployment, so good to read this....

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UK unemployment hits 5.2%, highest rate for nearly five years

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It marks the highest rate since the Covid pandemic, official figures show.

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The G7 nations have taken emergency action to try and control the price of oil. Will it work?

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However, this also has the potential to be the biggest oil shock in history. Three hundred million barrels is effectively less than three days of global oil consumption (104 million barrels a day), about a fortnight of normal Straits of Hormuz traffic.

The other problem is that the G7 finance ministers may not all agree.

Will all ministers want naval escorts through the Strait of Hormuz? Does a new system of insurance solve the problems when drones and missiles are whizzing in the skies above the tankers, and occasionally targeting them?

Meanwhile, the US has been pushing the idea of Russia as a partial solution, through the use of waivers against sanctions for Putin's war against Ukraine.

Releasing 300 million barrels of oil will not address all issues. As powerful as the G7 is, China, India, and South Korea remain the key customers for physical supply of Gulf oil and gas. As such, gas tankers from the US that had been bound for Europe are now doing Atlantic U-turns and heading for the Panama canal to deliver to Asia instead.

And what about jet fuels and fertiliser precursors also shut in to the Gulf? That matter also won't be solved by this release.

It is a big intervention being discussed. And it might temper the rise to $150 a barrel, but few in the markets are willing to take a bet on declines in energy prices in these circumstances.

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Oil price spiral may be slowed but not stopped by G7 emergency move

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A big intervention is being discussed in the oil markets, but as yet, we do not know how big the problem will be.

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Ranked: The World’s Most Valuable Brands in 2026 https://share.google/8ju3FlJdR2eUaBX0N

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Excellent article about the longer term background behind persistent UK inflation

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UK inflation rate: How quickly are prices rising?

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UK Inflation has fallen from record highs but remains above the Bank of England’s 2% target.

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All about the implications for the UK rate of inflation of events in the Middle East

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There’s an inflation wave coming. How worried should we be?

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Economic consequences are an intrinsic aspect of the Iran conflict, writes BBC economics editor Faisal Islam.

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With an ageing population, those people's income, wealth and spending become even more important for a country's economy.

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Spain’s over-55s generate 33% of GDP and underpin savings | Sur in English

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Ageing population reshapes economy as senior spending outpaces younger generations

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How a country can improve its tourism industry. This is a spec topic on the Theme 4 Development section.

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Cyprus tourism hits record high as GDP share rises to 14 per cent

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Cyprus’ tourism sector posted a record year in 2025, with its share of GDP rising to 14 per cent from 13.1 per cent, emphasising its role as a core contributor to economic growth, Deputy Tourism Minister Kostas Koumis said on Thursday. Presenting the Deputy Ministry’s annual report, Koumis said the…

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Very clear explanation of how the continuation of the Middle East War will have very large economic impacts.

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This war has massive implications for the world economy

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Sky’s economics and data editor explains how events in the Middle East are already having an impact and what an extended period of disruption to energy flows could mean.

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A huge moment in China's economic history....

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One China analyst told the BBC that the lower target gives China "more room to manage the economy" without being forced into making huge financial commitments just to hit a precise goal.

"China has used flexible targets before, particularly during the pandemic, but it's not the norm," Jason Bedford fromthe East Asian Institute research group added.

The two sessions event, which began on Wednesday and usually runs for at least a week, brings the country's leaders together for back-to-back meetings.

Details of China's gross domestic growth (GDP) target and its objectives under its latest Five Year Plan were included in a 46-page report published by Premier Li Qiang, seen by the BBC.

The full text of the plan, which will outline China's economic development objectives to 2030, will be voted on during the closing day of the gathering.

It is expected to be released by state media one or two days later.

Li told delegates that the Five Year Plan will include investments in innovation, high-tech industries, scientific research and more efforts to boost household consumption.

His comments underline Beijing's concerns that weak domestic consumption makes the country too reliant on exports, as well as highlighting its ambitions to upgrade the country's manufacturing industries.

The report outlines plans for more than 100 major projects over the next five years to expand China's industrial capacity, with a focus on science and technology, transportation and energy.

Beijing also made clear its ambitions to be a global technological powerhouse, with plans to roll out artificial intelligence (AI) tools across key industries.

China aims to lead a green energy push, reducing carbon emissions and improving environmental protection, Li wrote.

The country will also build a "childbirth-friendly society" as it addresses concerns over employment, education and healthcare, the report said.

China faces an ageing population and falling birth rates, complicating Beijing's plans to boost its economy.

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China sets lowest economic growth target since 1991

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It is also the first time the target has been lowered since it was cut to "around 5%" in 2023.

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Very interesting article which questions the established ways of measuring and looking at inequality and poverty.

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Measuring poverty on a spectrum instead of an arbitrary line conveys a more accurate picture of inequality

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An economist proposes a new method of estimating the scope of poverty in different countries.