The pandemic has devastated government finances around the world. Savage shutdowns have destroyed millions of businesses and crippled many more, pushing them into debt to survive.

Last week I was introduced to a remarkable residential development in Chiang Mai, the charming city in northern Thailand where we live.

War risk is “consistently underestimated by money people” says FT commentator John Dizard following the escalation of tensions between China and Taiwan. The latter runs itself as a highly successful independent nation, but China insists it is a breakaway province that it is determined to recover.

In Germany the harsh winter has conveyed dramatic warning of how nasty life will become as it proceeds with its extreme Energiewende policy to rely on renewables to meet its electricity needs.