Finance & economics | Free exchange

How to unleash more investment in intangible assets

A new book urges financial and economic reforms

When russia invaded Ukraine, tangible things at first seemed all too important. Bombs and bullets were what mattered; commodity markets were roiled; supply chains were upturned. As the war has gone on, however, intangible factors have asserted their importance, too. The managerial and logistical know-how of the armed forces on either side, as well as technological advantages, like Ukraine’s deployment of Bayraktar drones, have altered the course of the war. So too has the goodwill that Ukraine has attracted from people around the world, which has in turn led foreign governments to lend the country more support.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Immaterial needs”

The coming food catastrophe

From the May 21st 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Could war in the Gulf push oil to $100 a barrel?

Missiles are flying over a region that supplies a third of the world’s crude

FRANCE-TRADITION-LEISURE-TOURISM

How bond investors soured on France

They now regard the euro zone’s second-largest economy as riskier than Spain



Why economic warfare nearly always misses its target

There is no such thing as a strategic commodity

A tonne of public debt is never made public

New research suggests governments routinely hide their borrowing