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Discovery of 5,000-year-old farming society in Morocco fills a major gap in history – north-west Africa was a central player in trade and culture

Discovery of 5,000-year-old farming society in Morocco fills a major gap in history – north-west Africa was a central player in trade and culture: A new discovery of an ancient farming society at Oued Beht in Morocco fills a centuries-old gap in history. It reveals that, 5,000 years ago, the Maghreb (north-west Africa) was far …

Read moreDiscovery of 5,000-year-old farming society in Morocco fills a major gap in history – north-west Africa was a central player in trade and culture

Ghana’s economic crisis was caused by government borrowing – the central bank did the best it could: economist

Ghana’s economic crisis was caused by government borrowing – the central bank did the best it could: economist: Ghana is going through its worst economic crisis in a generation. The past two years have seen record high inflation in the country. Ghana’s central bank (the Bank of Ghana) has been criticised in some quarters for …

Read moreGhana’s economic crisis was caused by government borrowing – the central bank did the best it could: economist

Central banks should be fighting the climate crisis – here’s why

Central banks should be fighting the climate crisis – here’s why: Climate finance was a major focus at the recent COP28 summit, but one set of game-changing institutions remains largely missing in such conversations: central banks. Central banks are public institutions, charged with maintaining economic stability through controlling the supply of money in an economy. …

Read moreCentral banks should be fighting the climate crisis – here’s why

Czes?aw Mi?osz: what the Polish poet tells us about the ‘westsplaining’ of eastern and central Europe

Czes?aw Mi?osz: what the Polish poet tells us about the ‘westsplaining’ of eastern and central Europe: Czes?aw Mi?osz (third row, fourth from the left) at the Stefan Batory University of Vilna in 1930. Wikimedia In 1931, when the Polish poet Czes?aw Mi?osz was 20 years old, he spent a summer travelling across Europe with friends. …

Read moreCzes?aw Mi?osz: what the Polish poet tells us about the ‘westsplaining’ of eastern and central Europe

Interest rates: if central banks don’t start cutting them soon, it could actually increase inflation

Interest rates: if central banks don’t start cutting them soon, it could actually increase inflation: Another reason to be fearful. Golden Dayz What next for interest rates? The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely expected to leave them unchanged when it meets on November 2, despite the fact that UK headline inflation …

Read moreInterest rates: if central banks don’t start cutting them soon, it could actually increase inflation

Inflation: raising interest rates was never the right medicine – here’s why central bankers did it anyway

Inflation: raising interest rates was never the right medicine – here’s why central bankers did it anyway: Pain, no gain? Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. IMF, CC BY-SA Inflation remains too high in the UK. The annual rate of consumer price inflation to September was 6.7%, the same as a month earlier. This is well …

Read moreInflation: raising interest rates was never the right medicine – here’s why central bankers did it anyway

Building on the greenbelt is central to solving the housing crisis – just look at how the edges of cities have changed

Building on the greenbelt is central to solving the housing crisis – just look at how the edges of cities have changed: Amid new targets of 1.5m new homes over five years, the Labour party has pledged to review the planning rules which dictate where housing in England can be built. The shadow chancellor, Rachel …

Read moreBuilding on the greenbelt is central to solving the housing crisis – just look at how the edges of cities have changed

Wagner, conflict and poverty drive Central African Republic death rate above crisis levels: but where’s the aid?

Wagner, conflict and poverty drive Central African Republic death rate above crisis levels: but where’s the aid?: The Central African Republic (CAR) is one of the poorest countries in the world. Its GDP per capita in 2022 was estimated at US$ 491 per year. The nation of roughly 5 million people has been in political …

Read moreWagner, conflict and poverty drive Central African Republic death rate above crisis levels: but where’s the aid?

Central banks say interest rates will stay high but it’s unclear if this will be enough to curb inflation

Central banks say interest rates will stay high but it’s unclear if this will be enough to curb inflation: Central bankers, policymakers and academics meet annually at Jackson Hole, Wyoming to discuss the economy. Sarah Hollemans/Shutterstock The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has recently signalled that it will keep interest rates high for as …

Read moreCentral banks say interest rates will stay high but it’s unclear if this will be enough to curb inflation

Cities are central to our future – they have the power to make, or break, society’s advances

Cities are central to our future – they have the power to make, or break, society’s advances: Dharavi slum in India. Billions of people live in terrible conditions in the world's cities. Punit Paranje/AFP via Getty Images We live in tumultuous times. In the space of just a few years, we have witnessed a surge …

Read moreCities are central to our future – they have the power to make, or break, society’s advances

How China is increasing its influence in central Asia as part of global plans to offer an alternative to the west

How China is increasing its influence in central Asia as part of global plans to offer an alternative to the west: The Kazakh port of Aktau will be useful in the expansion of trade routes in the region. Matyas Rehak/Shutterstock As G7 leaders were preparing for their recent summit in Japan, China’s president Xi Jinping …

Read moreHow China is increasing its influence in central Asia as part of global plans to offer an alternative to the west

What central banks are doing to safeguard financial stability and why they must proceed with caution

What central banks are doing to safeguard financial stability and why they must proceed with caution: Trying to maintain some stability. David Gyung/Shutterstock Before a crucial week of interest rate decisions for central banks, and on the eve of the emergency takeover of banking giant Credit Suisse, the Bank of England and five other major …

Read moreWhat central banks are doing to safeguard financial stability and why they must proceed with caution

The European Central Bank seems to have got away with raising interest rates in the middle of a banking crisis – here’s why

The European Central Bank seems to have got away with raising interest rates in the middle of a banking crisis – here’s why: Not for turning: ECB President Christine Lagarde. Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo In the middle of a market panic that has felled two US banks and pushed several others to the brink, the European …

Read moreThe European Central Bank seems to have got away with raising interest rates in the middle of a banking crisis – here’s why

Nigeria’s central bank made critical mistakes that doomed the country’s currency redesign

Nigeria’s central bank made critical mistakes that doomed the country’s currency redesign: People queue outside a bank in Lagos on February 22, 2023. Nigeria was hit with a scarcity of cash after the central bank began to swap old Naira notes for new bills. Patrick Meinhardt / AFP Nigeria has successfully introduced new banknotes on …

Read moreNigeria’s central bank made critical mistakes that doomed the country’s currency redesign