America's big firms are girding for earnings season when they report quarterly profits. We look into why any disappointing numbers might be reflecting far more than just the bottom of the standard business cycle. And some new research shows that dad's brains get smaller too. But first… In central Beijing today, all of the grandis of the Chinese Communist Party are gathered for their five-yearly conference.
State media have taken to calling President Xi Jinping “the helmsman”; at the five-yearly meeting he defended his means of steering the country. We ask how to read between his tightly prepared lines. Many of America’s firms will soon deliver disappointing profits—and there is more to blame than simple business cycles. And research suggests that parenthood causes fathers’ brains to shrink.
For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer