Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist.

In New York, I'm your host, John Fassman.

And in London, I'm Jason Palmer.

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

In recent years, China has expanded its espionage operations.

It's hacking capacity is legendary, and it seems to have got better at the fleshy side

of things too.

But some wonder whether China's intelligence services really are as good as advertised.

And it might look like a pretty easy gig, being a lifeguard.

But after a pandemic of closed pools, it's proving difficult in America to get enough trained

lifeguards in all those tall chairs.

In many places, swim at your own considerable risk.

First up though.

Inflation is crushing living standards all over the world.

That is stoking fury and political turmoil.

It's true Lanka, Peru, Pakistan, protests spread as the prices of fuel and food rise and

rise.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is one cause, of course, the after-effects of navigating a global

pandemic, another.

But a hungry man is an angry man as the saying goes, and all those angry men and women

are pointing fingers at causes closer to home.

In places where increasing unrest and violence in the coming months seem all but inevitable.

...