Trump’s war on woke workers

It amounts to a bonfire of rainbow tape. Donald Trump has declared war on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). He is already reshaping American institutions. Companies are abandoning programmes that they had put in place to increase the racial and gender diversity of their workforces (or at least renaming them to avoid the president’s ire). The whiplash has been most severe inside the federal government. There, Mr Trump’s people, in the form of Elon Musk and his DOGEtenants, are uprooting DEI staff, programmes and contracts with unseemly relish. Insofar as the president’s moves against DEI seek to make America more meritocratic, they are welcome. However, a reasonable idea for reform is straying into self-defeating cruelty and, possibly, outright illegality.

(Adapted from “The Meaning Of Donald Trump’s War On Woke Workers,” by The Economist, published on February 6, 2025)

Scam Inc.

First the scammers build a sty, with fake social-media profiles. Then they pick the pig, by identifying a target; raise the pig, by spending weeks or months building trust; cut the pig, by tempting them to invest; and butcher the pig by squeezing “every last drop of juice” from them, their family and friends. “Pig-butchering” is the most lucrative scam in a global industry that steals over $500bn a year from victims all around the world—and is growing fast. As our investigation has found, everyone becomes a potential target simply by going about their lives. Online scamming compares in size to the illegal drug industry. But it will be even harder to curb: it is often beyond the reach of the law, and some of the profits buy protection from politicians and officials. But education and policing may help fight Scam Inc.

(Adapted from “The Vast And Sophisticated Global Enterprise That Is Scam Inc,” by The Economist, published on February 6, 2025)

India vs China

The pilot’s tower at Colombo port, in Sri Lanka’s capital, provides a telling snapshot of India’s struggle with China in South Asia. To the east lie the berths where Indian and Chinese warships often dock, a port official explains. Southwards sits the Chinese-operated container terminal that was an early part of China’s Belt and Road plan. Next door, to the west, is where India’s Adani Group is building another terminal, which, in 2023, won $553m of American government funding. Regional leaders have been playing Asia’s giants against each other. In the last 18 months, India-friendly leaders have been ousted in the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Some are starting to lean in favour of China.Many Western officials meanwhile fear that India’s regional diplomacy often backfires or conflicts with their own. Until it can define what it stands for in its own backyard, sceptical neighbours will continue to hedge their bets.

(Adapted from “Why India Isn’t Winning The Contest With China,” by The Economist, published on February 4, 2025)

A warning shot

Shortly after America added 10pc tariffs on Chinese goods to its existing levies, China announced a variety of countermeasures against American firms. It launched an antitrust investigation of Google and added Illumina, a biotechnology firm, and PVH, which owns brands including Calvin Klein, to its “unreliable entities list”, which could curtail opportunities to trade and invest. The world’s biggest exporter also introduced new trade barriers of its own. China will tighten export controls on a variety of rare metals and impose duties of 15pc on American coal and liquefied natural gas, as well as tariffs of 10pc on crude oil and some vehicles. The measures will not, in truth, cause a large displacement of commerce. However, they are intended as a warning shot to deter even stronger American measures in future.

(Adapted from “Xi Jinping Shows How He Will Return American Fire,” by The Economist, published on February 4, 2025)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 10th, 2025