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Free Lunch

FT's global economics briefing

Free Lunch is the FT’s twice-weekly newsletter on the global economic policy debate. Sign up for opinionated analysis from Martin Sandbu every Thursday, and narratives and ideas examined by Tej Parikh every Sunday. This newsletter is for Premium subscribers. Sign up here, or, if you're a Standard subscriber, upgrade to Premium here.

  • Sunday, 1 June, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    The UK doesn’t have a productivity puzzle Premium content

    The obstacles to higher growth in Britain are well known

    A photo of central London and the river Thames taken from above
  • Sunday, 25 May, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    Don’t underestimate the Chinese consumer Premium content

    Reforms, urbanisation and demographic shifts could all sustainably boost domestic spending

    A man checks his mobile phone in front of skyscrapers in Shanghai
  • Thursday, 22 May, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Europe has a new economic orthodoxy Premium content

    And it’s a lot better than the old policy consensus

    Mario Draghi is speaking at a podium
  • Sunday, 18 May, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    America’s sickness economy Premium content

    The US’s exceptional healthcare expenditure yields second-rate results

    A team of surgeons perform an operation on a patient
  • Thursday, 15 May, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    In praise of America’s trade deficit Premium content

    Net imports are funding the innovative edge that others envy the US so much — and perhaps benefit from too

    Stacks of multicoloured shipping containers are seen at the Port of Long Beach in California, with a row of palm trees in the foreground
  • Sunday, 11 May, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    Internal trade barriers are as stifling as tariffs Premium content

    Removing inefficiencies at home is even more important in a trade war

    A blue world map
  • Thursday, 8 May, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Trump’s tariffs will boomerang on US exporters Premium content

    A tax on imports is a tax on exports

    A worker operates a remote control to pour aluminiumluminum into a furnace at a plant in Goose Creek, South Carolina
  • Sunday, 4 May, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    Europe won’t displace US economic power any time soon Premium content

    Trump’s damage to America’s growth rate will be mostly reversible

    EU and US flags
  • Thursday, 1 May, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Preparing for a post-American world (part 1) Premium content

    How international governance can work even with a US-sized hole in it

    Workers position a large American flag using a crane. The flag is partially unfolded and billowing in the breeze.
  • Sunday, 27 April, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    The S&P 500 is still significantly overpriced Premium content

    Investors are yet to fully factor in tariffs and hits to AI and US exceptionalism

    Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
  • Thursday, 24 April, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    The case for Trump’s tariffs Premium content

    The arguments are believed more widely than the Maga camp, but that does not make them any more right

    A worker is seen installing an engine in a vehicle at an assembly plant in Indiana
  • Sunday, 13 April, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    Nostalgia for manufacturing will make the US poorer Premium content

    Donald Trump’s vision to onshore factory jobs reverses decades of progress

    US President Donald Trump speaks outside of the White House
  • Thursday, 10 April, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Donald Trump has had his first Liz Truss moment Premium content

    Unlike the doomed former British PM, the US president is not going anywhere — so uncertainty is here to stay

    A montage of pictures of Liz Truss and Donald Trump
  • Sunday, 6 April, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    Why Trump’s tariffs won’t last long Premium content

    Voter and business sentiment will pile pressure on the president’s agenda

    US President Donald Trump signs an executive order sat at a desk in the White House Rose Garden. There are US flags draped behind him
  • Thursday, 3 April, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Germany’s long slog out of stagnation Premium content

    Breaking out of fiscal restraints is not by itself enough to recover the country’s economic mojo

    Shoppers walk through a bustling market in Nuremberg, Germany, lined with red and white striped stalls
  • Sunday, 30 March, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    Globalisation will triumph over Trump Premium content

    Economic incentives outweigh politics in the long run

    Supporters of US President Donald Trump participate in the Million MAGA March
  • Thursday, 27 March, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    What’s the point of fiscal rules? Premium content

    Don’t let the budget rule tail wag the democratic dog

    The Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, is illuminated at night. The German flag flies atop the structure, and the glass dome is visible in the background.
  • Sunday, 23 March, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    Five optimistic scenarios for the global economy Premium content

    A Trump U-turn and surprise growth in Europe and China are possible

    The sun shines on a person looking at the London skyline
  • Thursday, 20 March, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Europe is about to make its biggest strategic mistake Premium content

    Control over Moscow’s blocked foreign reserves empowers the EU to shape how the Ukraine war ends

    A woman crouches on the damaged rooftop of a village school as she picks up a piece of shrapnel from a Shahed drone amid the rubble and debris from a recent bombing
  • Sunday, 16 March, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    Unlocking Canada’s superpower potential Premium content

    Capitalising on the G7 nation’s vast geography could spark an economic boom

    A man stands wrapped in a Canadian flag with his back facing the camera
  • Thursday, 13 March, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Europe, stronger together Premium content

    With wise policy, rearmament can for once be a source of unity rather than division

    Technicians work on assembling a Leopard battle tank at the Rheinmetall facility in Germany
  • Sunday, 9 March, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    The US economy is heading for recession Premium content

    Donald Trump’s policy agenda is sapping American animal spirits

    An assembly of US President Donald Trump paraphernalia on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
  • Thursday, 6 March, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Making Europe’s defence spending great again Premium content

    Where there is a will (to boost military capabilities), there is a way

    A camouflaged Leopard 1 tank is seen on a dirt path through a grassy area in Storkau, Germany.
  • Sunday, 2 March, 2025
    Tej Parikh
    How culture shapes capitalism around the world Premium content

    From east to west, different value systems support global economic diversity

    People crossing a road with a screen showing financial data overlaid on top
  • Thursday, 27 February, 2025
    Martin Sandbu
    Can Europe go it alone on Russia sanctions? Premium content

    Washington’s coercive economic diplomacy is undergoing massive change

    The facade of Russia's central bank headquarters in Moscow, framed by ornate black ironwork
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