The everything drugs

The world this week

Leaders

Confetti exploding out of syringe

The everything drugs

It’s not just obesity. Drugs like Ozempic will change the world

As they become cheaper, they promise to improve billions of lives

Elon Musk embraces Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5th 2024

Leaders

Elon’s $1m voter

Mr Musk’s scheme to boost Donald Trump is legally questionable and bad for democracy

A cartoon figure in glasses hugs gold bars with a happy expression, surrounded by sparkles.

Status anxiety

The blistering rally in gold augurs ill for the power of the dollar

Central banks are shifting away from the greenback

Hands holding prison's bars on a pink background

Criminal justice

Decarceration is the key to better prisons

Britain is not the only rich country that needs a radical change in approach

An up arrow being held back by cables.

Making business roar

Time to shake up Asia’s sleepy monopolies

The cosy links between politics and business impose large costs on a dynamic region

Letters

On economics, America, the Chagos Islands, innovation in AI, the Turkic states, Abraham Lincoln, flies

Letters to the editor

Briefing

A photo illustration of a GLP-1 pen depicted as a Swiss Army knife.

The Swiss Army knife of jabs

GLP-1s like Ozempic are among the most important drug breakthroughs ever

Their far-reaching potential could transform how chronic diseases are managed

Europe

Leader of left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), Sahra Wagenknecht.

International

Image of George Washington with darts stuck in it, each dart having the flags of China, Brazil, and Russia at the ends.

Launching a currency war in Moscow

Putin’s plan to dethrone the dollar

Economic & financial indicators