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Why golf doesn’t have its Federers and Nadals

Winners of golf’s majors are more disparate than their tennis-playing counterparts

Jul 22nd 2022

Cameron smith won golf’s British Open on July 17th with a brilliant final round of 64. It was his first major title. By contrast the 2022 winner of the Wimbledon tennis tournament was Novak Djokovic, happily claiming his 21st grand-slam victory.

The difference was symbolic. Four grand-slam tennis titles are up for grabs every year and four golf majors. Apart from Mr Djokovic, two other players have more than 20 grand slams: Rafael Nadal with 22 and Roger Federer with 20. Overall, seven tennis players have won more than ten grand slams, including Rod Laver, who was excluded from the grand slams during his peak years because he was a professional and those tournaments were once only for amateurs.

A rising share of people are exposed to dangerously high temperatures

Climate change and population distribution are the cause

Jul 21st 2022

As climate-change models predicted, the frequency and intensity of sweltering days has increased recently. Records were broken in Europe this week as a heatwave gripped the continent. Britain set a new maximum temperature record of 40.3°C (104.5°F), shattering the 38.7°C set in 2019. Since the 1980s temperatures have risen in the world’s cooler regions, exposing more people to stifling heat. Meanwhile, population growth has been fastest in the hottest countries, increasing the share of humanity affected.

Lessons from Turkey on the evils of high inflation

It hurts investment and makes most people poorer

Jul 21st 2022

It took for ever and then it took a night. That was how Rudiger Dornbusch, an influential economist who died in 2002, described the gestation of a financial crisis. In the Dornbusch telling, booms go on for much longer than seems rational or possible before they end with a speed that also surprises. The unsustainable can be sustained for longer than you would think.

Were Dornbusch still around, even he might be scratching his head about Turkey. For years it has been running a reckless experiment in unorthodox monetary policy. The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, believes that higher interest rates are a cause of rising prices, not a cure for them. At the end of 2021, when most countries were either raising interest rates or preparing to do so, he directed Turkey’s central bank to slash them. The result could have been predicted, if not by Mr Erdogan. Inflation surged to almost 80% in a matter of months. Remarkably Turkey’s economy has managed to keep growing. Real gdp rose by 11% last year. Turkey’s boom seems to be everlasting.

California's new gun law could curb the use of 'ghost guns.' What are they?

Ella Lee

USA TODAY

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a bill that will allow people to sue distributors of illegal assault weapons, parts to build them, .50 caliber rifles and guns without serial numbers. 

The legislation is modeled after Texas' controversial anti-abortion law, which allows citizens to sue anyone who provides or assists with abortion services. While California's gun law will be overturned if Texas' abortion law is, advocates say it could help save lives, particularly for victims of crimes committed with "ghost guns."

In April, President Joe Biden announced a series of "basic common sense" federal regulations intended to target the untraceable firearms known as ghost guns. 

Here's what to know about "ghost guns." 

Ghost guns:Controversial new California gun control law mimics Texas abortion measure

What is a ghost gun? 

• "Ghost guns" are guns without serial numbers that don't require typical background checks for purchase and are largely untraceable, making it difficult to find perpetrators who use them to commit crimes.

How are they made?

• Because of technological advances, some of these guns, also known as privately made firearms, can be made from home with do-it-yourself firearms kits,standalone parts or 3D printers, accordingto the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

How many are there?

• The number of ghost guns found at crime scenes nationwide has increased over the last several years, according to the ATF. More than 23,900 suspected privately made firearms were recovered at crime scenes from 2016 to 2020, including 325 homicides or attempted homicides.