Which country’s economy did best in 2023?

Hello from London,

Is this great city unstoppable? What a question. Of course it is. Despite the miseries of Brexit, lockdown and more, my home town is thriving. Why? In part because it welcomes immigrants, ideas and trade—the sorts of things that nationalist politicians hate. Read our new essay on how the city has been bouncing back for 2,000 years and counting—and what lessons it holds for other places.

Yet the story for Britain as a whole is decidedly less cheery. We have assessed which economy did best in 2023 and—spoiler alert—it’s not this one. For a bonus take on which countries are the world’s richest once you account for the cost of living and the average hours that people work, have a look at our separate chart-led piece. It makes for happier reading for many Europeans than Americans.?

Meanwhile, crises are brewing. You may remember, two years ago, the sense of threat to global trade when a single grounded ship blocked the Suez Canal for six days. Get ready to multiply that concern many times over. In the past few days the world’s largest commercial shipping firms have suspended all traffic through the Red Sea—the southern route to the canal—because of military strikes on ships by the Houthis, Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. (Read our explainer on the group.) Our analysis explains how the situation could affect as much as 30% of global container traffic and 12% of global trade by volume. In short, this could be a sign that the Israel-Gaza war is spreading. We’ll be watching closely.

On that conflict, I recommend another piece of analysis which explains why Israel is making such heavy use of unguided bombs in Gaza. Precision-guided or “smart” bombs, their targets picked out by lasers, could limit civilian casualties.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is supposed to hold general elections this week. I was last in the country two decades ago, accompanying peacekeepers who were trying to end a prolonged civil war. Has much improved since then? Will the election even take place, let alone be free and fair? Our correspondent assesses the prospects for some 100m Congolese.

Finally, later this week we will declare our country of the year. Thanks for all of your suggestions. Palestine—not yet a state, alas—was the most popular proposal, followed by Ukraine (our choice last year), both for war-related reasons. Tim Taylor suggests Qatar, for its efforts mediating between Israel and Hamas. I have some sympathy with Bhavesh Shah, who picks the United States, partly because of its support for Ukraine. Manfred Gessner celebrates Poland for the same reason (and might have added the welcome change of government there).

Adam Roberts, Digital editor

Which economy did best in 2023?

Almost everyone expected a global recession in 2023, as central bankers fought high inflation. They were wrong. Global GDP has probably grown by 3%. Job markets have held up. Inflation is on the way down. Stockmarkets have risen by 20%.But this aggregate performance conceals wide variation. The Economist has compiled data on five economic and financial indicators—inflation, “inflation breadth”, GDP, jobs and stockmarket performance—for 35 mostly rich countries. We have ranked them according to how well they have done on these measures, creating an overall score for each. Here we reveal the rankings, and some surprising results.

Why is Israel using so many dumb bombs in Gaza?

On December 12th Joe Biden, America’s president, publicly rebuked Israel for its air war in Gaza. “They’re starting to lose [global] support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” he said, in a reflection of his growing impatience. America’s intelligence agencies judge that 40-45% of Israel’s air strikes since October 7th have used unguided or “dumb” bombs, as opposed to precision-guided munitions (PGMS) or “smart” bombs, according to reports first published by CNN. What does that figure reveal?

How to master the art of delegation

Delegating well is the six-pack of management: widely desired and harder to achieve the older you get. In theory, handing appropriate decisions off to people lower down the corporate ladder means greater satisfaction all round. Bosses get more time to concentrate on the issues that really deserve their attention. Middle managers and workers enjoy a greater sense of autonomy. And the organisation benefits from faster decision-making on the part of people who are better informed about the matter at hand. In practice, however, delegation is a minefield.

Most read by subscribers this week:

• The world’s most liveable cities in 2023
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• The world’s richest countries in 2023
• Are Canadian cities better than America’s?
• Iran rethinks its role as a regional troublemaker

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