Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

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

Decades after FedEx disrupted the world of shipping, the firm is itself being disrupted by the likes of Amazon.

Shipping companies are upping their game, building up fleets of trucks and planes.

After all these years, can FedEx still deliver the goods?

And everyone knows the stereotype that smoking marijuana leads to voracious snacking.

But we wanted data.

Luckily, two economists have weighed in, with a decade's worth of shop receipts.

Yes, weed causes the munchies, but it seems that it also reduces boozing.

First up, though.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in Paris today for talks with French

President Emmanuel Macron.

Yesterday, he met with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

He's ostensibly there to renegotiate elements of Britain's divorce deal with the European Union.

Mrs. Merkel hinted that solutions could still be found.

It was said we will probably find a solution in two years,

but we could also find one in the next 30 days.

Why not?

Mr. Johnson is playing a high-stakes game as the Brexit deadline approaches.

He's insisting on removing what's called the Irish Backstop, a plan to avoid a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The bat stop, that particular arrangement, which I do think has grave, grave defects for a democratic country, a sovereign democratic country like the UK.

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