The Economist - October 17th-23rd 2026

Oct 18, 2026

143

Uploaded by Mimi

Weekly issue overview covering political, business, finance, science, and culture from October 17th to 23rd 2026. Highlights include leaders on Canada’s lessons and science and AI, a Science & technology feature exploring how AI models are trained for research, and interviews and commentary such as AfD’s Alice Weidel. The contents also list business topics from Musk’s charitable giving to SpaceX’s ambitions, plus indicators and an obituary for Annie Dillard.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages84

Reading Time3 h 32 min

AccessFree to download

Leaders

Canada’s lessons

Not sorry

Science and AI

EurekAI!

Trump backs Russia

Cuba

Millennials

The comeback cohort

Letters

On America’s city mayors

By Invitation

Lawrence Lessig and Yoshua Bengio on reducing AI risks

Brieﬁng

Reviving Canada

Schumpeter

The AI boom is threatened by unreliable numbers

United States

Protecting the midterms

Politics in Ohio

Data-centre discontent

Sumo comes to America

A slippery diesel deal

The Jon Ossoff playbook

The Biden trap

The Americas

Cuba’s entrepreneurs

Inside Venezuela’s prisons

Gambling wars in Brazil

Asia

El Niño hits Asia

India’s cockroach protests

Depopulation in Japan

Myanmar’s charm offensive

Ashoka Non-resident Indians

China

The recycling giant

3D-printing muscle

Channelling more money to development causes

Chaguan Taxation risks

Middle East & Africa

War comes to Saudi

Kingmakers in Israel

Israel’s ex-pat voters

Africa’s green travails

Gen-Z voters in Kenya

Business

Musk’s miserly foundation

SpaceX’s mobile ambitions

The neolab era

Chip-stock jitters

Bartleby AI emails

Bad beancounting

Finance & economics

Millennials on top

China’s reluctant lenders

Gunfire and brimstone

Banking in a war zone

French bond lessons

ANew Keynesian Nobel

Science & technology

Why build AI scientists?

Maths and machines

Synthetic biology

Can AI speed up science?

How much to walk?

Culture

Millennial nostalgia

Miniatures

Ben Macintyre’s “Redwood”

Elizabeth Holmes

The trouble with “Musk”

DOGE

| Will AI take over science? | | --- | | Mysteries of the Musk Foundation | | Our interview with the AfD’s Alice Weidel | | Millennials are on Easy Street at last | | OCTOBER 17TH–23RD 2026 | NOT SORRY What Carney and Canada can teach the world C002 The Economist October 17th 2026 3 Contents On the cover Mark Carney and his country have something to teach the middle powers: leader, page 11 . Can Donald Trump’s bullying goad Canada out of its complacency? Brieﬁng, page 19. Middle powers face a new threat, page 53 Will AI take over science? The machines are inside the laboratory: leader, page 12 . In aseven-page Science & technology section, we look at why the model-makers train their AIs for research, page 69 . Breakthroughsin biology, page 72. The fears of mathematicians, page 70. And scientiﬁc paperwork, page 74 Mysteries of the Musk Foundation Elon Musk’s charitable giving is opaque, miserly and self-serving, page 57. A new ﬁlm about the tycoon, page 79. Looking back at DOGE, page 80 Our interview with the AfP’s Alice Weidel Why she insists that Germany must abandon Ukraine, page 47 Millennials are on Easy Street at last Don’t feel sorry for them. They are living it up, page 63. A tech-powered millennial revival is powering the biggest nostalgia boom yet, page 76 → Download The Economist’sapp for articles, podcasts, videos and more, published throughout the week. | The world this week
6 A summary of political and business news | | --- | | Leaders
11 Canada’s lessons
Not sorry
12 Science and AI
EurekAI!
13 Trump backs Russia
Hardly his ﬁnest hour
13 Cuba
America makes waves
14 Millennials
The comeback cohort | | Letters
15 On America’s city mayors, Britain before Thatcher, sleep deprivation, Singapore, mistakes at AI labs | | By Invitation
18 Lawrence Lessig and Yoshua Bengio on how to reduce AI risks without losing the AI race | | Brieﬁng
19 Reviving Canada
Anew leaf

Schumpeter
The AI boom is threatened by an epidemic of unreliable numbers, page 62 | | | | United States
22 Protecting the midterms
23 Politics in Ohio
24 Data-centre discontent
25 Sumo comes to America
25 A slippery diesel deal
26 The Jon Ossoff playbook
27 Lexington The Biden trap | | | --- | --- | | The Americas
28 Cuba’s entrepreneurs
29 Inside Venezuela’s prisons
30 Gambling wars in Brazil | | | Asia
31 El Niño hits Asia
32 India’s cockroach protests
33 Depopulation in Japan
33 Myanmar’s charm offensive
34 Ashoka Non-resident Indians | | | China
35 The recycling giant
36 3D-printing muscle
37 Channelling more money
to development causes
38 Chaguan Taxation risks | | | Middle East & Africa
39 War comes to Saudi
40 Kingmakers in Israel
41 Israel’s ex-pat voters
42 Africa’s green travails
43 Gen-Z voters in Kenya | | ⏩ Contents continues overleaf 4 The Economist ctober 17th 2026 Contents | Europe
44 Dieseling Ukraine down
45 Dodging Russia’s draft
46 Iberian immigration
46 Art-theft boom
47 The AfD’s Alice Weidel
48 Charlemagne Bright lights, small cities | | | --- | --- | | Britain
49 Preparing for crisis
50 Clay-pigeon shooting
51 British-Israeli relations
51 Ceremony in the City
52 Bagehot Exploiting
suicide | | | International
53 Middle powers in a
predatory world | | Business 57 Musk’s miserly foundation 58 SpaceX’s mobile ambitions 59 The neolab era 60 Chip-stock jitters 61 Bartleby AI emails 62 Schumpeter Bad beancounting | Finance & economics
63 Millennials on top
64 China’s reluctant lenders
65 Gunﬁre and brimstone
66 Banking in a war zone
67 Buttonwood French bond lessons
68 Free Exchange ANew Keynesian Nobel | | | --- | --- | | Science & technology
69 Why build AI scientists?
70 Maths and machines
72 Synthetic biology
74 Can AI speed up science?
75 Well Informed How
much to walk? | | | Culture

FAQs

What is the main theme of the October 17th-23rd 2026 issue?

The issue centers on leaders and reporting on science and AI, including how AI is trained for research and what it means for scientific work. It also spans politics, business, finance, and culture.

Which sections and topics are included in the contents?

Contents include Leaders, Letters, By Invitation, Brieﬁng, Schumpeter, regional coverage (United States, the Americas, Asia, China, Middle East & Africa, Europe, Britain, International), Business, Finance & economics, Science & technology, and Culture.

What science and technology features are highlighted?

Science & technology highlights include “Why build AI scientists?”, “Maths and machines,” “Synthetic biology,” and “Can AI speed up science?”. It also includes a “Well Informed” piece on how much to walk.

Oct 18, 2026

143

Uploaded by Mimi