The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Yes the value of stock markets are soaring, yet IPOs are in steep decline The market shrinkage is mostly a western, mainly European phenomenon, while markets in Asia continue to grow
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: A US ban of TikTok raises issues of principle and practicality and is antithetical to free speechThe US and the UK have over-reacted with these displays of performative pandering to political lobbies and snubbing of allies
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Bitcoin rises from the dead ... and it stinks to high heavenCrypto universe is shrouded in mystification, boosterism and investor credulousness
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: China’s journey to prosperity is stuck – and something has to giveIts economy recently kept the world ticking over but it has faced a series of downturns that mean a new path must be found
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: After 34 years, Japan’s Nikkei has something to shout about at lastThe wait is over for investors as stock market finally surpasses high last achieved in December 1989
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Putin is having a fantastic 2024, it can’t continueTide has turned in Russia’s favour on second anniversary of Ukraine invasion, Europe must now respond to help Ukraine prevail
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Biden may be old, but Nato comments show Trump is unhinged The world has gotten used to the deadbeat developer-turned-politician talking trash, but his comments last week still shocked
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Farmers are their own worst enemies but must not be ignored As climate change accelerates and the green transition becomes more urgent and costly – farmers are at the coalface, whether they like it or not
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: At X, Musk often acts like a jerk as he panders to crass cult instinctsHe gets away with it because he is surrounded by acolytes and a supine board but that will not last forever
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Rise of radical right afflicts ailing Germany in year of disenchantment There are enough reasons for angst in Europe’s largest country but growing support for the AfD is the gravest threat facing it
The Big Picture UK Post Office scandal shows computers were more trusted than peopleWhatever the eventual outcome, though, the affair of the UK Post Office and the Dodgy Computer System is a salutary, heartrending and profoundly unsettling tale
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: US universities blew chance to set Israel record straight Academia should be able to say uncomfortable things but on some issues, particularly antisemitic, absolute clarity is necessary
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: The rising enemy from within poses greatest threat to EU unityEU leaders will meet in Brussels this week, where the agenda could hardly be more pressing nor the backdrop more gloomy
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Argentinians opt for another populist strong man as economy teeters yet againUnder the surface, Javier Milei, the TV personality who has just been elected president, looks alarmingly similar to the authoritarian Juan Perón
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Starmer’s main obstacle to power is himself and his deeply divided partyHow the Labour leader handles accusations of giving a free pass to the Israelis will be a vital test
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Big Oil fights back against green energy movement Chevron and Exxon’s $120bn megadeals were part of a massive pushback against moves towards clean energy, but only on one side of the Atlantic
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Most ominous axis of anti-Ukraine sentiment is in the US Republican Party Extremist GOP rhetoric poses a bigger threat to western unity on the war than any rumblings in Europe
The Big Picture Putin’s potential deal with Kim bodes ill for Indo-Pacific and beyondBoth leaders are isolated and desperate, but the North Korean dictator has far more to gain
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: German economy will need to harness its heft to achieve takeoffThe heavyweight of Europe, there is no doubt the country has the skills and resources required to do what it takes to become more dynamic and sustainable, but it seems to lack the courage to try
The Big Picture Vincent Boland: Despite the gloomy predictions, the world has not collapsed into recession Six months ago we were told that inflation, interest rates, stagnant growth and the war in Ukraine would see economies shrink – but many are showing signs of resilience