Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist, on your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Among the stark economic effects of lockdowns was the boom in the attention economy, given

few options the world flocked to entertainment media, from games to streaming services to

well podcasts, but now that boom is turning to bust. And of the world's very best race

horses, 97% are all descended from a single horse. We look at the risks inherent in maintaining

the world. But first, over the weekend, the last American troops departed from the

Bagrum Army base, the nerve center of American operations in Afghanistan.

We're on track exactly as to where we expect it to be.

It's the notional end of America's longest war, 20 years after an American invasion

and an insurgency by Taliban militants that just never stopped. As America and Allied NATO forces

head for the exit, a resurgent Taliban continues to make gains, particularly across the country's

north. As government forces fled this weekend, videos emerged of Taliban soldiers standing over

piles of captured weapons. A Taliban spokesperson told the BBC that all American troops

must leave by America's September 11th deadline. They agreed while we were negotiating the Doha

Agreement that they will withdraw all their forces. It's killingly reminiscent of another

foreign power withdrawal, that of the Soviets in the late 1980s. The fear now, the increasing

reality now, is a return to widespread Taliban control with all that entails. Shadow governments

enforcing Sharia law and scattered civilian militias battling to keep the peace.

The feeling in Kabul at the moment is really quite anxious. There's a wave after wave of bad news

coming from the districts. Ben Farmer covers Afghanistan and Pakistan for the economist and has been

reporting in Kabul. The Taliban have been infarcing almost unchecked through large parts of the

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