Old age and the financial problems posed by the increase in life expectancy: we must create a market of instruments indexed to lifetime duration. The problem is understanding who should be the issuer, and how to convince voters to accept risk now for a benefit in the distant future

We build and continuously fine-tune computer forecasting models in the attempt to predict everything from global warming to tomorrow's stock prices. But rather than placing excessive trust in them, we need to learn to use them with a critical sense

A new system for monitoring a criminal scourge is being put in place by the EU, strengthening the poorly enforced norms currently on the European books. Will this be enough to make a dent in Italy's endemic and widely tolerated culture of corruption?

Retail banking: a clear and brave initiative by Britain's Financial Services Authority shines a light on dubious practices in the Italian banking industry. What would happen here if financial consultants could be paid exclusively by their customers?

As emissions of CO2 reached a new high in 2010, the imperative is to decouple growth from environmental impacts, by decarbonizing technologies. International accords that include market-based mechanisms are perhaps the only hope for avoiding disaster

The transition toward democracy is by no means guaranteed, and changes are sparking a whole new set of social tensions. Freer societies will have to consider the formerly repressed voices of conflicting ethnic, religious, political and cultural factions