Mr. Dan O'Brien, Senior Editor, Economist Intelligence Unit

Mr. Juan Carluccio, Economist, Economic and International Relations Unit, Nestlé

Economist (1997), Rubber ducks in the Net , 26 July, p.59.

Economist Intelligence Unit (2004). Brazil Argentina China's long term commitment. Business Latin America, 15 November.

Senior Economist with the Monopolies and Prices Commission at the Ministry of Finance, Kenya

Mr. Jean Philippe Dauvin, Group Vice President, Chief Economist, SGS Thomson Microelectronics, Gentilly, France

They are benefiting, among other things, from the fact that electronic mail is far cheaper and easier than international telephone or fax communication (Economist, 1997, p. 59).

Perhaps the deepest explanation for the Legion of Gloom s strength is where they live. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD economies averaged annual GDP growth of 0.5 from 2008 to 2012, whereas non OECD economies averaged 5.2 growth.

In particular, there is widespread belief in India today that one of the country s two main political parties, the Indian National Congress, essentially run by Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, has now run its course and will sink into oblivion. According to The Economist The Congress Party is in a funk and in danger of long term decline.

But, as The Economist observed, rarely does nemesis follow hubris so quickly. Indeed, just two days after the Vikrant s launch, explosions at the naval dockyard in Mumbai sank INS Sindhurakshak one of the ten Kilo class submarines that form the backbone of India s aging conventional submarine fleet killing 18 crew members.

In the 1980 s, Scandinavian countries stood for chronic budget deficits, high inflation, and repeated devaluations. In 1999, The Economist labeled Germany the sick man of the euro a monument of European sclerosis, with low growth and high unemployment.

As noted by The Economist, the Chinese Communist Party has not bought into the idea that soft power springs largely from individuals, the private sector, and civil society. Instead, it has clung to the view that the government is the main source of soft power, promoting ancient cultural icons that it thinks might have global appeal, often using the tools of propaganda.

And yet it is particularly in the US that commodity prices have been falling. The Economist s euro denominated Commodity Price Index, for example, has actually risen over the last year it is only the Index in terms of dollars which is what gets all of the attention that is down.

CAMBRIDGE Robert Gordon of Northwestern University has launched a lively and important debate about the future rate of economic growth in the United States. Although his book The Rise and Fall of American Growth will not be published until January 2016, his thesis has already garnered coverage in the Economist and Foreign Affairs.

As The Economist noted succinctly, Poland is not a country hitherto known for championing animal rights. Indeed, it is hypocritical that hunting for sport and unsupervised home slaughtering continue to be permitted, whereas shechita, which is carried out by experienced people according to well established procedures, is not.