THE SWEETEST chocolate can come from the most bitter of sources. In May police in Ivory Coast rescued 68 children working on cocoa farms, allegedly trafficked in from neighbouring Burkina Faso. They are a tiny share of the approximately 790,000 children working in cocoa production in Ivory Coast alone. According to a report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF based on data from more than 100 national household surveys, some 160m five- to 17-year-olds—one in ten of the world’s children—are engaged in labour, understood as work that they are too young to perform or that might harm their “health, safety or morals”. Between 2000 and 2016 the percentage of children in work globally fell. But since 2016 that decline has levelled off—and the absolute number of child workers has increased by 8m, the first time it has gone up since the ILO began collecting data.

ECONOMIC THEORY predicts that as unemployment insurance becomes more generous, fewer people will work. Assuming that wages on offer remain constant, as the amount that people can earn without a job grows, the comparative financial gain they reap from working shrinks. Moreover, if insurance is sufficient to cover necessities such as rent or mortgage payments and food, the unemployed can pass over less desirable job offers while they search for one they like.

TEN YEARS ago, after a tsunami hit the Fukushima reactor in northern Japan, causing a nuclear disaster, Germany decided to phase out its 12 nuclear power stations. Within months, the first plants were closed. At the end of 2022 the fuel rods for the last three will be pulled out for the last time.

THE SWEETEST chocolate can come from the most bitter of sources. In May police in Ivory Coast rescued 68 children working on cocoa farms, allegedly trafficked in from neighbouring Burkina Faso. They are a tiny share of the approximately 790,000 children working in cocoa production in Ivory Coast alone. According to a report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF based on data from more than 100 national household surveys, some 160m five- to 17-year-olds—one in ten of the world’s children—are engaged in labour, understood as work that they are too young to perform or that might harm their “health, safety or morals”. Between 2000 and 2016 the percentage of children in work globally fell. But since 2016 that decline has levelled off—and the absolute number of child workers has increased by 8m, the first time it has gone up since the ILO began collecting data.

ON AUGUST 18TH America’s surgeon general announced that people who got covid-19 vaccines at least eight months ago can receive an extra shot. Israel has already given a third jab to many citizens. France and Britain are also considering boosters.

IF THERE were a prize for the world’s unluckiest country, then Haiti would surely be a contender. On August 14th the Caribbean country was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, killing at least 2,000 people; the final death toll could be in the tens of thousands. (A slightly weaker earthquake in 2010 killed between 100,000 and 300,000 Haitians.) Just two days later, rescue efforts were paused when Tropical Storm Grace swept through. But as the poorest economy in the Americas, it is Haiti’s inability to cope with such disasters—rather than the frequency of the disasters themselves—that causes so much grief.

ON AUGUST 18TH America’s surgeon general announced that people who got covid-19 vaccines at least eight months ago can receive an extra shot. Israel has already given a third jab to many citizens. France and Britain are also considering boosters.

In a different week, the plight of another poor, badly run country might have led the world’s front pages. The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 that struck Haiti on August 14th is known to have claimed more than 2,000 lives (a toll that will surely rise) and injured thousands. Worse, Tropical Storm Grace swept in just two days later. All this has happened in a political vacuum: the president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated on July 7th. The country was unstable, and the economy shrinking, even before that. The Caribbean country of 11m people is no stranger to natural disasters: a quake in 2010 killed 220,000 and in 2016 it was racked by the strongest hurricane in 50 years. But poverty (GDP per person is under $1,200), weak infrastructure and wretched governance leave Haiti especially ill-equipped to cope.

IF THERE were a prize for the world’s unluckiest country, then Haiti would surely be a contender. On August 14th the Caribbean country was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, killing at least 2,000 people; the final death toll could be in the tens of thousands. (A slightly weaker earthquake in 2010 killed between 100,000 and 300,000 Haitians.) Just two days later, rescue efforts were paused when Tropical Storm Grace swept through. But as the poorest economy in the Americas, it is Haiti’s inability to cope with such disasters—rather than the frequency of the disasters themselves—that causes so much grief.

ECONOMIC THEORY predicts that as unemployment insurance becomes more generous, fewer people will work. Assuming that wages on offer remain constant, as the amount that people can earn without a job grows, the comparative financial gain they reap from working shrinks. Moreover, if insurance is sufficient to cover necessities such as rent or mortgage payments and food, the unemployed can pass over less desirable job offers while they search for one they like.

IF YOU WRITE a book called “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty”, the last thing you want to be associated with is fraud. Yet this is where Dan Ariely, a behavioural economist at Duke University, finds himself, along with his four co-authors of an influential study about lying.

ON AUGUST 18TH America’s surgeon general announced that people who got covid-19 vaccines at least eight months ago can receive an extra shot. Israel has already given a third jab to many citizens. France and Britain are also considering boosters.

In a different week, the plight of another poor, badly run country might have led the world’s front pages. The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 that struck Haiti on August 14th is known to have claimed more than 2,000 lives (a toll that will surely rise) and injured thousands. Worse, Tropical Storm Grace swept in just two days later. All this has happened in a political vacuum: the president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated on July 7th. The country was unstable, and the economy shrinking, even before that. The Caribbean country of 11m people is no stranger to natural disasters: a quake in 2010 killed 220,000 and in 2016 it was racked by the strongest hurricane in 50 years. But poverty (GDP per person is under $1,200), weak infrastructure and wretched governance leave Haiti especially ill-equipped to cope.

ON AUGUST 18TH America’s surgeon general announced that people who got covid-19 vaccines at least eight months ago can receive an extra shot. Israel has already given a third jab to many citizens. France and Britain are also considering boosters.

IF THERE were a prize for the world’s unluckiest country, then Haiti would surely be a contender. On August 14th the Caribbean country was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, killing at least 2,000 people; the final death toll could be in the tens of thousands. (A slightly weaker earthquake in 2010 killed between 100,000 and 300,000 Haitians.) Just two days later, rescue efforts were paused when Tropical Storm Grace swept through. But as the poorest economy in the Americas, it is Haiti’s inability to cope with such disasters—rather than the frequency of the disasters themselves—that causes so much grief.

ON AUGUST 18TH America’s surgeon general announced that people who got covid-19 vaccines at least eight months ago can receive an extra shot. Israel has already given a third jab to many citizens. France and Britain are also considering boosters.

WHAT WILL Americans remember about the fall of Kabul? Images of Americans filing into a helicopter on the roof of an apartment building defined America’s failure in Vietnam. Five weeks after President Joe Biden promised there would be “no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof”, the image of a helicopter ferrying diplomats away from America’s embassy in Kabul evoked uncomfortable parallels. Polling from the fall of Saigon also gives a clue to how Mr Biden’s reputation at home will fare. After the North Vietnamese overran the American-backed South Vietnamese in 1975, a Time magazine poll found that 38% of people blamed the incumbent president, Gerald Ford, for the fiasco. In 2021, a survey by YouGov, a pollster, conducted between August 14th and 17th found that 33% of people thought that withdrawing from Afghanistan was a mistake (see chart).

ECONOMIC THEORY predicts that as unemployment insurance becomes more generous, fewer people will work. Assuming that wages on offer remain constant, as the amount that people can earn without a job grows, the comparative financial gain they reap from working shrinks. Moreover, if insurance is sufficient to cover necessities such as rent or mortgage payments and food, the unemployed can pass over less desirable job offers while they search for one they like.

In a different week, the plight of another poor, badly run country might have led the world’s front pages. The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 that struck Haiti on August 14th is known to have claimed more than 2,000 lives (a toll that will surely rise) and injured thousands. Worse, Tropical Storm Grace swept in just two days later. All this has happened in a political vacuum: the president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated on July 7th. The country was unstable, and the economy shrinking, even before that. The Caribbean country of 11m people is no stranger to natural disasters: a quake in 2010 killed 220,000 and in 2016 it was racked by the strongest hurricane in 50 years. But poverty (GDP per person is under $1,200), weak infrastructure and wretched governance leave Haiti especially ill-equipped to cope.

IF YOU WRITE a book called “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty”, the last thing you want to be associated with is fraud. Yet this is where Dan Ariely, a behavioural economist at Duke University, finds himself, along with his four co-authors of an influential study about lying.

ON AUGUST 18TH America’s surgeon general announced that people who got covid-19 vaccines at least eight months ago can receive an extra shot. Israel has already given a third jab to many citizens. France and Britain are also considering boosters.

IF YOU WRITE a book called “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty”, the last thing you want to be associated with is fraud. Yet this is where Dan Ariely, a behavioural economist at Duke University, finds himself, along with his four co-authors of an influential study about lying.

AS INDIA MARKED its 75th year of freedom from British rule on August 15th, Narendra Modi, the prime minister, set his eyes on another sort of independence: liberation from imported energy. This will put pressure on India’s coal industry, which powers the bulk of the country’s grid and has seen prices surge. Mr Modi also promised to leave “no scope for corruption” in the government. A new study by Sam Asher of Johns Hopkins University and Paul Novosad of Dartmouth College suggests that these goals might be at odds with each other. They find that India’s commodities boom could help elect—and enrich—dodgy politicians.