Finance & economics | Buttonwood

The broader lesson from booming copper prices

Shortages in commodity markets offer a paradigm for the post-virus economy

Editor’s note (May 7th 2021): This piece was updated after the price of copper reached an all-time high on May 7th

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Red hot”

Govcoins: The digital currencies that will transform finance

From the May 8th 2021 edition

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

Explore the edition

More from Finance & economics

President Trump Signs Executive Orders In The Oval Office

Trump’s brutal tariffs far outstrip any he has imposed before

Canada, Mexico and China are going to be made to suffer

A white fish going into the mouth of a group of black fishes forming a bigger fish.

Why your portfolio is less diversified than you might think

The most important idea in modern finance has become maddeningly hard to implement


A German flag waves in front of the buildings of the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany.

Can Germany’s economy stage an unexpected recovery?

The situation is dire, but there are glimmers of hope


Giorgia Meloni has grand banking ambitions

Will Italy’s nationalist prime minister manage to concentrate financial power?

Tech tycoons have got the economics of AI wrong

Following DeepSeek’s breakthrough, the Jevons paradox provides less comfort than they imagine

Donald Trump’s economic warfare has a new front

The president has threatened to blow up the global tax system. Will allies be able to stop him?