The search for the next British prime minister

Hello from London,

A week ago I asked if Britain was in decline. The country is doing its best to suggest it is. Our cover story likening Britain to Italy—Welcome to Britaly—makes the case more fully. Now that Liz Truss has quit, and Boris Johnson has pulled out of the Conservative leadership race, it looks likely that Rishi Sunak will be the next prime minister. He would be the first prime minister in Britain of Indian heritage (on that note, happy Diwali to those who celebrate). Much digital ink has been spilled on Mr Sunak’s past, but I’d recommend this column, from March, as a particularly trenchant take.

Another figure to watch this week is Jair Bolsonaro. Polls in Brazil (check out our tracker) show that the president is now roughly tied with Lula, a left-leaning former president, despite having lagged in the race for months. The contest is growing nastier, and the outcome could be close indeed. I have to admit that, earlier, we had confidently expected Lula to win this election. We are not so sure now.

Things are more predictable in China. We have just published our assessment of the five-yearly Communist Party congress, including analysis of who in Xi Jinping’s close circle is on the up.

Beyond politics there is much to keep our journalists busy in the coming days. Two giant technology firms, Meta and Apple, are set to deliver their quarterly results. More unusually, keep an eye out for a story we’ve been preparing on a big Chinese tech firm.

Last, this is a moment to take stock of the economy. Our alternative cover story last week was on the gloomy prospects in property markets. In nine rich countries property prices are already falling and the pain will be broadly felt.?

Today we’ve examined both the persistence of high inflation around the world and the argument that central banks share a large portion of blame for it. Our analysis suggests this may be too simplistic. Central bankers who raised interest rates fast and early have so far had little more success in curbing inflation than those who have moved slowly and tentatively. Europe’s central bank, which has been slower than most in putting up rates, will meet this week to decide whether to do so. Estimates for GDP growth in America are also due. American voters may be more sensitive to inflation than other economic troubles, but the economy falling into recession on the eve of the midterms would not cheer the Democrats.

Feedback:

Feroze Khan, who hails originally from Pakistan (but now lives in Canada), writes that “the essence of a strong and stable government, as I have learned from bitter experience, is the peaceful transfer of power”. I agree, Feroze, in part because I used to report from Pakistan and saw first hand the high cost of instability. But while a peaceful transfer is essential, Britain may be showing that it isn’t sufficient. And Malcolm (Mike) Bell, in Britain, comments that a weaker pound should be welcomed as that makes exports more competitive. I’m less optimistic on this, Malcolm. I defer to my more expert colleagues on the matter, who have pointed out that British exporters have failed to take advantage of a weaker currency in the past.

Adam Roberts, Digital editor?

Economist reads:?

What to read to understand Xinjiang

In recent years Xinjiang, a region in far west China, has become a byword for the worst human rights abuses in China. Over 1m Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been detained in concentration camps in the region; many of their children have been removed to state-run boarding schools. Chinese Communist Party cadres have moved into Uyghur households to monitor residents for signs of religiosity. Mosques and graves have been razed. China justifies its actions as a campaign against Islamic extremism. But it is clear that the Uyghur identity itself is the target of the Communist Party’s campaign. Uyghurs speak their own language and have a distinct culture. To understand what is under attack in Xinjiang, we recommend these books and articles, one documentary and a collection of poetry.

Our latest column on workplace culture:

When bosses walk in employees’ shoes

Any manager worth their salt knows the value of spending time “walking in their customers’ shoes”. There are many ways to do it. You can observe customers in their natural habitat. Pernod Ricard’s boss recently told Bloomberg, a news service, about his habit of bar-hopping in order to see what people want to drink. Such research is a lot less fun if your company makes soap dispensers for public toilets but the same principle applies.

Most read by subscribers this week:

• Housing markets face a brutal squeeze
• A global house-price slump is coming
• Welcome to Britaly
• Controversial new research suggests SARS-CoV-2 bears signs of genetic engineering
• Xi Jinping has no interest in succession planning

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