SINGAPORE — What makes a journey? There is the destination, of course; but there is also the route one follows to get there, and the time it takes to complete it.

MILAN — This year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) has begun in Dubai. Depending on whom you ask, the outlook ranges from deeply pessimistic to cautiously optimistic.

MILAN — The European Union, like much of the rest of the world, is facing powerful economic headwinds.

MILAN — Around the world, supply is struggling to keep up with demand. Inflation remains stubbornly high, despite aggressive interest-rate hikes. The global workforce is aging rapidly.

MILAN — For several decades, markets and market incentives were the main drivers of economic trends and policies. No longer.

MILAN — Industrial policy has always been a controversial dimension of growth and development strategies in emerging economies.

 MILAN — Over the last year, the trajectory of Sino-American relations has become indisputable: the United States and China are headed towards a substantial, though not complete, decoupling.

MILAN — Trade and technology development policies almost always have distributional consequences. There may be a few exceptions for which the implementation of a policy produces either gains or no loss for nearly everyone, what economists would call a Pareto improvement.

MILAN — Net-zero commitments are all the rage. Countries, companies, and others worldwide have committed to eliminating their net greenhouse-gas emissions by a particular date — for some, as early as 2030.