The Economist.

Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist.

I'm Rosie Bloor.

And I'm Jason Palmer.

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

Thank you. weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. Astronomers often put their telescopes in space so that turbulence in the Earth's

atmosphere doesn't blur their clear vision. But the growing number of man-made objects in orbit

are obscuring their view.

And the digital era is coming for the makers of some seriously analog technology.

The pen.

Big manufacturers are laying off pen-making staff left and right, except at one cutesy Italian firm.

First up, though.

Let's talk about the case of an American president with a sweeping economic plan who disagrees with someone from the Federal Trade Commission, someone who's from the rival

party.

The president fires that someone.

The legality of the firing is questioned.

The case makes its way to the Supreme Court.

I'm talking about the case of William E. Humphrey,

sacked by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933,

and about a precedent that another fire-at-will president wants to overturn.

A case that's a lot like Humphreys has made its way back to the Supreme Court.

It's about how much power over independent agencies the president can exert, and ultimately

...