Why Three Private Companies Get to Decide How Much Your Government Pays to Borrow
As global sovereign debt issuance scales toward $17 trillion, the 'Big Three' credit rating agencies wield unprecedented influence over national budgets and the …
Articles
The Invisible Middlemen Handling $3 Quadrillion of Your Money
Central Counterparties (CCPs) are the hidden infrastructure of global finance, managing more wealth than exists in physical form to prevent market-wide …
World Governments Are Pulling Back on Foreign Aid, but Migrant Workers Just Hit a $729 Billion Record
As major economies slash official development budgets, the private transfers sent home by 184 million migrants have become the world’s most powerful financial …
How Private Investors Betting on Lawsuits Are Changing the Way Americans Go to Court
Litigation finance has evolved from a niche legal tool into a $20 billion global asset class, altering the incentives of the U.S. civil justice system and …
Your Online Order Likely Arrived on a Ship That Will End Its Life on a Dangerous Beach in South Asia
While the world relies on giant vessels to move 90 percent of global trade, the majority of these ships are eventually dismantled by hand on tidal beaches, …
Why Modern Medicine Is Running Out of Working Antibiotics
The global pipeline for life-saving antibiotics is collapsing because the business model of drug development rewards volume while public health demands …
Why the World’s Biggest Ships End Their Lives on a Bangladeshi Beach
As the global shipping industry pivots toward green energy, the graveyard for retired vessels remains a handful of South Asian beaches where economic necessity …
Most of the World’s Workers Aren't in the Official Records — Here is Why That Matters
As the informal economy swells to 2.1 billion people globally, traditional economic indicators are failing to capture the reality of work for the majority of …
Why the Medicine That Saved Modern Life Is Disappearing From the Factory Floor
The global pipeline for new antibiotics is shrinking as a broken business model punishes pharmaceutical companies for creating effective drugs, threatening to …
Your Next Home Might Be Built With a Greener Recipe for the World’s Most Popular Material
As cement production accounts for 8 percent of global emissions, new chemical recipes and international carbon taxes are forcing a legacy industry to evolve. …